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Reuters
Carlos Ghosn fled Japan to Lebanon last December
Japan has asked the United States to extradite a former special forces soldier and his son for allegedly helping former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn flee Japan last year.
Former green beret Michael Taylor and her son Peter were detained in Massachusetts in May, several months after Japan issued arrest warrants.
The US authorities confirmed that a formal extradition request was filed.
Ghosn, who was arrested in Japan on charges of financial misconduct in 2018, dramatically escaped last year.
The former Nissan chief denies the charges against him.
Despite being under house arrest and monitored 24 hours a day, on December 29 he managed to fly to the Lebanese capital Beirut through Turkey.
The details of the Taylor’s alleged involvement in the escape are unclear. But Japanese prosecutors have said the two were in Japan at the time and helped Ghosn evade security checks when he left.
In May, prosecutors in Turkey charged seven people with the leak. The suspects, four pilots, two flight attendants and an airline executive, are also accused of helping Ghosn flee.
They go to trial in Istanbul on Friday, with Turkish prosecutors seeking up to eight years in prison for the four pilots and the airline executive.
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The full details of the leak have never been fully explained. Ghosn, who has Brazilian, French and Lebanese nationalities, led Renault and Nissan as part of a three-way car alliance.
He is accused of misreporting his compensation package, but has insisted that he will never be able to obtain a fair hearing in Japan.
Since his arrival in Lebanon, he has told reporters that he was a “hostage” in Japan, where he had the choice to either die there or flee.
