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Tokyo (AFP)
Two US citizens accused of assisting former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn in his escape from Japan arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday after losing a lawsuit they filed in court to prevent US authorities from extraditing them to Tokyo, according to local media.
Former US Special Forces member Michael Taylor, his son Peter, and his third partner, the Lebanese George-Antoine Al-Zayek, are believed to have helped smuggle Ghosn from Osaka in western Japan to Lebanon. after placing it in a large Black Box similar to the boxes used to transport musical instruments and which transported it through Osaka Airport to Ataturk Airport. In Istanbul and from there to Beirut airport in December 2019.
While Ghosn is currently out of the reach of the Japanese judiciary, as Lebanon does not have a fugitive exchange treaty with Tokyo, Michael and Peter were turned over to the Japanese prosecutor on Tuesday.
Al-Zayek is still at large and hidden from view.
The two defendants landed at Narita Airport on the outskirts of Tokyo and were transferred to a detention center after cleaning immigration documents and taking a COVID-19 test, according to reports. There was no immediate official confirmation of his arrival in Japan.
Japanese authorities had issued an arrest warrant for Michael Taylor and his son on charges of helping Ghosn flee to his homeland, and American authorities arrested them in May and Peter Taylor was in Boston trying to flee the United States to Lebanon. , a country that is not bound by the United States with an exchange treaty.
Immediately after their arrest, the father and son filed a lawsuit requesting that the government prevent them from extraditing them to Japan because they may face torture-like conditions in their prisons.
However, on February 13, the United States Supreme Court upheld the judgments of the Courts of First Instance and Appeals in this case, allowing the government to hand over the father and son to the Japanese authorities.
“This is a sad day for the family and for all those who believe that former soldiers deserve better treatment than their country,” attorney Paul Kelly said in a statement, confirming that his clients were handed over to Japanese authorities.
– ‘Cheeky’ escape –
Ghosn was a prominent businessman and head of the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi alliance before his career came to an abrupt end in November 2018 when investigators from Tokyo broke into his private plane to arrest him.
Ghosn, the French Brazilian, spent 130 days in prison in two phases, and the Japanese judiciary indicted him on four counts, including failing to declare all of his income and using the Nissan money he saved from bankruptcy to make payments to personal acquaintances and misappropriation of the company. funds for personal use.
After spending months in custody, Ghosn was released on bail pending trial on charges he denies. However, he fled the country in what Japanese prosecutors described as “one of the most blatant and brilliant escapades in modern history.”
This infuriated Japanese officials, especially as prosecutors repeatedly refused to release Ghosn on bail, under the pretext that there was a high possibility that he would escape.
The details of his escape caused authorities even more embarrassment, as the former billionaire was suspected of taking a train to Osaka before evading security checks at Kansai airport by boarding a private plane in an unexamined large box.
After arriving in Lebanon, Ghosn claimed that he was forced to flee because he feared he would not receive a fair trial.
While Ghosn is still at large, the repercussions of the original lawsuit against him and his escape from Japan continue.
In Tokyo, his former Nissan assistant Greg Kelly is on trial for his alleged role in cutting the advertised portion of Ghosn’s salary. Nissan also faces charges in this case and has pleaded guilty.
Last month, an Istanbul court sentenced three Turks to prison for helping Carlos Ghosn escape from Japan to Lebanon in December 2019.
The senior official of “MNG Jet”, Okan Koseman, and two pilots were sentenced to four years and two months in prison for “migrant smuggling”.
After flying from Osaka in western Japan to Istanbul in a plane belonging to the Turkish private charter group “MNG Jet”, Ghosn flew to Beirut in a second plane belonging to the same group.
The court acquitted other pilots and two flight attendants who were also on trial.
© 2021 AFP
