After spending more than two months behind bars Kosuge Prison North of Tokyo, Carlos Ghosn goes, this Monday, try again to get him released on bail . And to convince the judges, who had denied him this last week, he pledged, through his lawyers, to fully respect the particularly strict conditions of a possible conditional release.
In a rather exceptional step, he has thus made broadcast, by a US public relations agency, a statement in which he formally waives leaving Japan in the period leading up to the preliminary hearings. While his lawyers had previously suggested that the CEO Renault hoped to return to France before returning to attend his trial, he now promises to give his lawyer his passport and reside in a Tokyo home already identified and even rented by his family.
“While the court is considering my application for bail, I want to emphasize that I will reside in Japan and that I will comply with any conditions that the court deems necessary,” insists the boss Franco-Brazilian, who says he is waiting impatiently for his trial. “I will be present at my trial not only because I am legally obliged to do so, but because I am looking forward to finally having the opportunity to defend myself,” he writes. “I am not guilty of the charges against me and I look forward to defending my reputation in court. Nothing is more important to me and my family, “he says.
Commitments…
Hoping to convince the judge who feared for the moment that he is trying to flee abroad to avoid justice, Carlos Ghosn proposes to advance a particularly high security, which he could mobilize using in collateral of the Nissan shares he holds. He also proposes to wear an electronic surveillance bracelet, so that the authorities can locate it permanently on Japanese territory, and to be even followed by security guards, approved by the court. The leader promises to take over this expensive surveillance system.
In response to the concerns of the judge, who still fears that he is trying to influence the investigation by taking advantage of the end of his detention to destroy any evidence, the French boss still promises that he will not seek to contact who may appear as key witnesses in the various cases and may report regularly to the public prosecutor.
… enough to convince?
If these commitments could be taken into consideration favorably by the judge when he looks at the matter on Monday night in Tokyo, it is not certain that they will be enough to convince him. Japanese courts have traditionally rejected requests for the release of suspects who categorically deny the charges against them.
Charged three times, Carlos Ghosn is accused by the prosecution of systematically reducing his income in a report submitted by Nissan to the stock market authorities between 2010 and 2018. He is also charged with “aggravated breach of trust” in a financial arrangement going back to the end of 2008. According to the prosecutor, he then abused his powers as CEO of Nissan to get out of a bad financial personal.