Tokyo (AFP)
The first public hearing of the trial of Carlos Ghosn is scheduled for April 2020, said Saturday the Japanese news agency Kyodo.
The exact date is not yet fixed, but according to Kyodo, "the Tokyo court wants to hold up to three hearings a week from April 21".
In addition to the defendant Carlos Ghosn, will be heard from current and former officials of Nissan, continued the agency.
Carlos Ghosn faces four indictments, two of which (those on undeclared deferred remuneration) for which his former collaborator Greg Kelly and Nissan automaker are also implicated as a legal entity.
The trial on this part of the case should concern the three defendants, although the lawyers of Carlos Ghosn have asked that they be dissociated for the sake of fairness, considering the role played by Nissan in the arrest of the one who l had saved from bankruptcy 20 years ago.
Carlos Ghosn, former boss of Nissan, Renault and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors alliance, is also charged twice for "aggravated breach of trust" over transfers of funds to Nissan middlemen in Saudi Arabia and in Oman, part of which would have been used for personal investments, according to the charges presented by the prosecutors.
Carlos Ghosn, who was arrested in November 2018 and released on bail last spring, is currently under house arrest in Tokyo, barred from seeing his wife and from contacting her, conditions that his lawyers denounce.
He meets regularly with judges and prosecutors during pre-trial hearings, which will run until March.
It was during these meetings that Mr. Ghosn's lawyers gradually became aware of the case to which they still did not have full access, which they considered a handicap in preparing their client's defense.
The deposed Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian boss of 65 years has not spoken publicly during a press conference since his arrest, although he has expressed the wish on several occasions.
Through communiqués or in response to rare interviews, he has denounced since the beginning of the case a "plot" by Nissan to prevent further integration with French car manufacturer Renault.
The crisis has created enormous tension within the alliance, and Nissan's successor, Carlos Ghosn, Hiroto Saikawa, has been forced to step down as chief executive this week. new board of the group after being caught by a case of undue compensation.
© 2019 AFP