• Nissan, the escape of the ex CEO Ghosn: away from Tokyo hidden in an instrument case

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January 02, 2020 France "will not extradite" Carlos Ghosn if the former Nissan boss, who fled Japan to avoid a trial and has French citizenship, were to arrive in the country. This was stated by Secretary of State for Economics and Finance Agnes Pannier-Runacher. "If Mr. Ghosn has arrived in France, we will not extradite Mr. Ghosn because France never extradits his citizens," said Pannier-Runacher, however, stressing that the former Nissan-Renault CEO should not have "gone into hiding." Nobody is above the law. " Ghosn is also under investigation in France but has not been accused of anything. "If he gets here, we will apply the same rules to Ghosn as we do to the man on the street," said the secretary of state for the economy.

Meanwhile, Turkey has opened an investigation into the passage of the former CEO of Nissan-Renault into its territory. Seven people, including four pilots, have been arrested. The Turkish Interior Ministry announced this, according to local media reports. The exact circumstances of Ghosn's flight to Lebanon have not yet been clarified. A source from the Lebanese presidency has revealed that the former CEO of Nissan Renault would have stopped in Turkey before reaching Beirut.

Carlos Ghosn had been authorized by Japanese justice to keep a second French passport in his possession. This was revealed by the public channel NHK, explaining that the former number one of Nissan-Renault possessed two French passports for reasons unknown, both held by his lawyer, together with the Lebanese one, until last May, when Ghosn succeeded to obtain the return of one of the two French documents for legal reasons. The document was to be kept in a locked safe.

The Japanese authorities searched the home of the former tycoon and recovered the images of the surveillance cameras to study the execution of the escape plan put in place and the possible existence of accomplices. On December 31, the Tokyo district court revoked Ghosn's probation at the request of the public prosecutor, ordering the confiscation of the 1.5 billion yen (12.3 million euro) bail. The Tokyo government has not signed an extradition treaty with Lebanon, making judicial cooperation with Beirut very difficult.

President Aoun did not welcome him to Lebanon
The Lebanese office of the presidency has denied the news of some media according to which President Michel Aoun had welcomed former Nissan-Renault president Carlos Ghosn at Beirut airport. "He was not greeted by the president and never met him," an official said. According to his travel documents, Ghosn entered Lebanon with a French passport.