Frankly Speaking: Fugitive ex-Nissan chief Ghosn says ready to stand trial in ‘neutral’ jurisdiction

01 | Lebanon’s problem lies 95% in the execution
0 seconds of 1 minute, 27 secondsVolume 90%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
01:27
01:27
 
Short Url
Updated 19 July 2021
Follow

Frankly Speaking: Fugitive ex-Nissan chief Ghosn says ready to stand trial in ‘neutral’ jurisdiction

  • Former boss of Renault-Nissan-Mistubishi Alliance talked about the fight to clear his name, Lebanon’s crisis and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030
  • As the latest guest on the “Frankly Speaking” series of video interviews, Ghosn criticized Japan’s “hostage justice” system

DUBAI: Carlos Ghosn, the fugitive motor-industry mogul, wants to stand trial in a country he regards as more neutral than Japan, he told Arab News.

Ghosn, who fled Tokyo 18 months ago, said: “I think the end of it has to be in a trial, but a trial that takes place in a country which has no stake in what is being tried. The only thing I’m asking is for a jurisdiction to be fair and neutral and not to be politically motivated. That’s all.”

In the course of a wide–ranging interview, the former boss of Japan’s Nissan and France’s Renault talked of how he was “abandoned” by the French government after it “surrendered” to Japan; his advice on how Lebanon — where he is currently seeking refuge from international law enforcement — can get out of its dire economic and political crisis; and his views on the Vision 2030 reform strategy in Saudi Arabia.

In conversation on the “Frankly Speaking” series of video interviews with leading policymakers and business people, he also gave his view on the intense rivalry between Nissan and Toyota in the Middle East.

Ghosn’s most savage criticism was of the Japanese legal system, after he was arrested and imprisoned on charges of financial irregularity at the Nissan Motor Co., where he was chairman.




Carlos Ghosn arrives for a pre-trial hearing at the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo on June 24, 2019. (Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP file)

“Prosecutors prevailed 99.4 per cent of the time, which is unheard of and unseen, quite frankly. Even though I’d been living in Japan for 18 years, I never suspected this kind of score,” he said.

“But having gone through the system and seeing the kind of intimidation — confession seeking, pressures, violation of human rights etc. — I am even surprised that they get only 99.4 per cent of confessions. I wonder how the other 0.6 per cent were able to resist when you look at the arsenal of arguments and things that they put against you.”

Japan’s justice system has been labeled “hostage justice” by the UN, he said, adding: “I’m ready to go to Japan the day they change their ‘hostage justice’ system.”

He said that he “felt bad” for people on trial in Japan, including his former lawyer, Greg Kelly. “I was lucky to be able to get out before the systems locked me down for God knows how many years, but I feel bad for Greg Kelly,” he said.

Japanese prosecutors charged Ghosn with a variety of financial crimes, including inflating his salary, but he said his remuneration had been agreed by the Nissan board of directors on several occasions. “I deduced from this that they were happy, particularly knowing that dividends were paid, the company was growing, the company was profitable,” he said.




French carmaker Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn arrives on Feb. 17, 2016 at the French National Assembly, before addressing the Economical and Financial commissions during a hearing. (AFP file)

Ghosn — a French citizen as well as holding Lebanese and Brazilian nationality — was also scathing about the actions of the government of President Emmanuel Macron, which appeared to want to appease Tokyo over the future of the Nissan–Renault alliance.

“Instead of somehow getting good support, I was just abandoned, after two or three weeks of obvious conflict between France and Japan,” he said.

“But then the French surrendered, and they said it very clearly — you know we want to preserve the good relationship between Japan and France, we want to preserve the good relationship between Nissan and Renault, and we trust that Japanese justice will solve this problem with Carlos Ghosn,” he said.

Ghosn has lived in Lebanon since December 2019 with his wife Carole, and is subject to a “red notice” from Interpol at the request of the Japanese government. Lebanon does not extradite citizens.

“Lebanon asked for Japan to transmit the accusation and the charges so they could look into them and eventually try me in Lebanon. But Japan has refused to do so,” he said.

Although there was “zero chance” of him becoming involved directly in Lebanese politics, including considering any offer to become the next president, Ghosn said that he was aware of “the misery brought on the country by the financial collapse, the economic recession with all its social consequences.”




A portrait of ousted Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn is seen on a publicity billboard in his support at a street in Beirut on December 6, 2018. (Joseph Eid / AFP)

He would “support, help, guide, advise whoever is interested to limit the suffering that people around us are going through,” he said.

“Having turned around many companies, I know by practice that whatever solution you bring when you have to turn around a company, or a country, five percent is the strategy, and 95 percent is execution,” he said. “So somehow those who will save the country are those who are in power and put in power by the Lebanese people, because frankly, the methods and the strategy to get out are pretty simple, and they have been (tried) in many countries (and) many companies.”

He also offered his view on the Vision 2030 reform strategy in Saudi Arabia. “I think that makes a lot of sense — transforming a country from being overly reliant on a couple of resources, to have different sources of revenues, and different sources of income, and different sorts of activity for employment,” he said.

Ghosn cautioned that the challenge for Saudi policymakers lies in the implementation of that strategy. “The success of this depends on how disciplined it’s is going to be — the execution, how focused (it is) going to be, the people in charge of delivering on this, and how serious they’re going to be about gathering the maximum level of talents into transforming the reality of Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia is a very rich country. It benefits from a lot of resources, but I think the people in charge of the country know that it’s not going to last forever. So, in my opinion they’re doing the right thing and I hope that will be successful,” he said.

From his perspective as a global expert in the motor business, he said that the difference between the Nissan business and the dominant Toyota operation in the Kingdom lay in the strength of the distribution network Toyota has built there in partnership with the Abdul Latif Jameel group.

“They have probably one of the best distributors in the world located in Saudi Arabia, so it’s going to be very difficult to fight if they (Nissan) don’t have people even approaching this level now,” he said.




This courtroom sketch illustrated by Masato Yamashita depicts former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn attending his hearing at the Tokyo district court on January 8, 2019. (JIJI PRESS  via AFP/file)

He added that he thought the Nissan–Renault–Mitsubishi alliance, which he was developing in the global motor industry, was doomed to fall apart.

“Frankly everything I’m seeing today makes me see the alliance as a zombie — that means it looks like it’s living matter, but in fact, inside nothing is happening. So, I’m not very optimistic when it comes to the future of this alliance. I hope I’m wrong but I will bet you that within the next five years this whole thing is going to totally unravel,” he said.

Ghosn cooperated in the making by Saudi media company MBC of a full–length documentary, “The Last Flight,” describing his dramatic escape from Japan in a large musical-instrument box on board a private jet, and analyzing the events leading up to it, which was released last week.

“I think there was a clear motivation from MBC to do it. They were the first one to come to me and say we would like your cooperation to do something like this, and they were very straightforward and honest about it,” he said.

Ghosn is planning further publicity initiatives, on top of legal action against his former employers.

“I want to leave something in order to help re-establish my reputation, on top of what I’ll be doing from a legal point of view. But I have no intention to come back to the high-flying life I had before,” he said.

_____________________

Twitter: @frankkanedubai


Clashes in predominantly Druze Syrian city kill 8: monitor

Members of Syria’s security forces deploy in an area near the Syrian capital Damascus. (File/AFP)
Updated 13 July 2025
Follow

Clashes in predominantly Druze Syrian city kill 8: monitor

  • Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least eight people had been killed, six of them Druze and two of them Bedouin

DAMASCUS: Clashes between Bedouin tribes and local fighters in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida in southern Syria killed eight people, a war monitor said Sunday, as authorities sent forces to de-escalate the situation.
The clashes are the first outbreak of deadly violence in the area since fighting between members of the Druze community and the security forces killed dozens of people in April and May.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least eight people had been killed, six of them Druze and two of them Bedouin.
Citing medical sources, local outlet Sweida 24 gave a preliminary toll of seven people killed, “including a child, and about 32 others wounded as a result of armed clashes and mutual shelling in the Maqus neighborhood,” east of Sweida city.
The outlet also reported the closure of the Damascus-Sweida highway due to the violence.
A Syrian government source, who asked to remain anonymous as they were not allowed to brief the media, told AFP that authorities were sending forces to de-escalate the situation.
Sweida Governor Mustapha Al-Bakur called on his constituents to “exercise self-restraint and respond to national calls for reform.”
Syria’s Druze population numbers around 700,000, with Sweida home to the sect’s largest community.
Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Sweida, with violence occasionally erupting between the two.
Since the overthrow of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad, concerns have been raised over the rights and safety of minorities under the new authorities, who have also struggled to re-establish security more broadly.
Clashes between the new security forces and Druze fighters in April and May killed dozens of people, with local leaders and religious figures signing agreements to contain the escalation and better integrate Druze fighters into the new government.


Dubai Police extradite three Interpol most-wanted suspects to Belgium

Updated 13 July 2025
Follow

Dubai Police extradite three Interpol most-wanted suspects to Belgium

  • The three Belgian nationals, Mathias Akyazili, Giorgi Faes, and Othman El-Ballouti, were apprehended in Dubai

DUBAI: Dubai Police have arrested and extradited three high-profile suspects wanted by Belgian authorities in connection with serious cases of cross-border organized crime, following a coordinated international effort involving Interpol and Europol, it was announced on Sunday.

The three Belgian nationals, Mathias Akyazili, Giorgi Faes, and Othman El-Ballouti, were apprehended in Dubai after Interpol red notices were issued against them, the Emirates News Agency reported.

All three were listed as most-wanted individuals by Interpol and Europol.

The suspects face multiple serious charges in Belgium, including operating a notorious gang, trafficking narcotic and psychotropic substances, robbery, and human trafficking.

The operation was led by Dubai Police’s General Department of Criminal Investigation in collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Interior, WAM added.

“Such coordinated efforts support the strengthening of a strong global security framework that confronts criminal activity with full force while promoting the exchange of international expertise and best practices in policing,” a Dubai Police spokesperson said.

It followed international arrest warrants submitted by Belgian authorities to the International Cooperation Department at the UAE Ministry of Justice, the designated central authority for handling such requests.

The transfer was authorized by the Dubai Court of Cassation, in accordance with bilateral agreements between the UAE and Belgium.

Upon the suspects’ arrival in Belgium on July 13, Abdullah bin Sultan Al-Nuaimi, UAE minister of justice, and his Belgian counterpart Annelies Verlinden held a phone call to discuss the extradition.

During the call, both ministers emphasized that the successful operation reflected a shared commitment to the rule of law, international judicial cooperation, and combating transnational organized crime and drugs-related violence, WAM reported.

Verlinden thanked UAE authorities for their support, adding that the extraditions were “a testament to the deepening legal partnership between the UAE and Belgium” and “to their shared determination to ensure that individuals accused of serious crimes are brought to justice.”

She commended the role of the UAE’s judicial and law enforcement institutions throughout the extradition process and also praised the emirates’ ongoing cooperation in line with the extradition treaties signed between the two countries in December 2021, which came into force in November 2022.

Al-Nuaimi reaffirmed the UAE’s commitment to enhancing bilateral judicial collaboration and also stressed the importance of international cooperation in tackling global crime and ensuring justice through strong legal frameworks.


Israeli missile hits Gaza children collecting water

A Palestinian boy bids farewell to his cousin Saraj Ibrahim, after he was killed in an Israeli strike that hit Nuseirat.
Updated 13 July 2025
Follow

Israeli missile hits Gaza children collecting water

  • The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others
  • Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil

JERUSALEM: At least eight Palestinians, most of them children, were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in central Gaza when they went to collect water on Sunday, local officials said, in an Israeli strike which the military said missed its target.
The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused it to fall “dozens of meters from the target.”
“The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians,” it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review.
The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital.
Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centers where they can fill up their plastic containers.
Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil, Palestinian media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.
Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday that more than 58,000 people had been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its tally, but says over half of those killed are women and children.
Talks stalled
Negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire appeared to be deadlocked, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend.
The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are being held in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a looming deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video he posted on Telegram on Sunday said Israel would not back down from its core demands — releasing all the hostages still in Gaza, destroying Hamas and ensuring Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.
Netanyahu was expected to convene ministers later on Sunday to discuss the ceasefire talks.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages there are believed to still be alive.
Israel’s campaign against Hamas has displaced almost the entire population of more than 2 million people, but Gazans say nowhere is safe in the coastal enclave.
Early on Sunday morning, a missile hit a house in Gaza City where a family had moved to after receiving an evacuation order from their home in the southern outskirts.
“My aunt, her husband and the children, are gone. What is the fault of the children who died in an ugly bloody massacre at dawn?” said Anas Matar, standing in the rubble of the building.
“They came here, and they were hit. There is no safe place in Gaza,” he said.


US-Palestinian man beaten to death by Israeli settlers buried in West Bank village

Updated 13 July 2025
Follow

US-Palestinian man beaten to death by Israeli settlers buried in West Bank village

  • The family of Musalat, who was born and based in Florida, is demanding that the US administration launch an investigation into his death
  • Mohammed Rizq Hussein Al-Shalabi was shot by settlers on Friday and left to bleed for hours

LONDON: The body of a US-Palestinian man, who was beaten to death by Israeli extremist settlers on Friday evening, was buried in his family’s village of Al-Mazraa Al-Sharqiya in the occupied West Bank on Sunday afternoon.

Hundreds of Palestinians participated in the funeral of Saif Al-Din Kamil Abdul Karim Musalat, 20, and Mohammed Rizq Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, whose coffins were wrapped in Palestinian flags during the procession in Al-Mazraa Al-Sharqiya on Sunday. Al-Shalabi was shot by settlers on Friday and left to bleed for hours in Sinjil, a village near Ramallah.

The family of Musalat, who was born and based in Florida, is demanding that the US administration launch an investigation into his death.

Musalat had been visiting the West Bank from the US since last June to spend time with relatives, according to a statement from his family and lawyer. He was beaten to death by settlers in Sinjil and his body was discovered on Friday evening.

Since October 2023, Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank have killed at least 955 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

About 1 million Israeli settlers live in illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in violation of international law.

Their attacks against Palestinians have escalated since 2023, with 820 attacks recorded by rights groups in the first half of 2025. In June, the UK, Australia, and Canada sanctioned two Israeli far-right ministers for inciting settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.


Jordan sends more aid to Gaza as death toll continues to rise

Updated 13 July 2025
Follow

Jordan sends more aid to Gaza as death toll continues to rise

  • 50 trucks carried essential aid, food and clean water to vulnerable families in northern Gaza
  • A separate shipment of 3,000 blood units is set to be delivered to the Jordanian field hospital in enclave

LONDON: Jordan sent another 50 trucks of humanitarian aid to Gaza on Sunday after resuming the dispatch of relief convoys last week, following months of an Israeli blockade that hindered assistance from reaching the Palestinian coastal enclave.

The Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization said the trucks carried essential aid, food and clean water to vulnerable families in northern Gaza. The initiative was in collaboration with the World Food Programme and the Jordanian Armed Forces.

It is part of the humanitarian aid bridge Amman launched since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in October 2023 to support Palestinians. The JHC said that aid distribution will occur through locally coordinated methods to ensure it reaches those in need.

A separate shipment of 3,000 blood units is set to be delivered to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza to support the healthcare sector. This initiative follows a nationwide blood donation campaign organized in collaboration with the Jordanian Medical Association and the Ministry of Health, the charity said.

Since late 2023, Jordan has delivered 7,815 aid trucks and 53 cargo planes through the Egyptian port of Arish, along with 102 helicopter sorties via the humanitarian air bridge, to support Palestinians in Gaza.

Jordan was among the first countries to conduct airlift missions in the early days of the war, delivering relief to Gaza. More than 58,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, which have been described as genocide by human rights groups and several heads of state.