Washington (AFP)
Japan has formally asked the United States to extradite two Americans suspected of having helped former car magnate Carlos Ghosn to flee Japanese justice under incredible conditions at the end of 2019.
Michael Taylor, 59, a former member of the US Special Forces who has converted to private security, and his son Peter Taylor, 27, have been in detention since their arrest on May 20 in Harvard, Massachusetts, at the request of Tokyo.
In accordance with the treaty between the two countries, the Japanese government had 45 days after their arrest to transmit its formal request for extradition through diplomatic channels. It is now done, said a federal prosecutor in documents attached to the proceedings Thursday.
Their lawyers have asked for the proceedings to be quashed or, at a minimum, for their provisional release, but prosecutors say they pose a "great risk of absconding".
The two men, as well as the Lebanese George-Antoine Zayek, are accused by Tokyo of having helped the former boss of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors alliance to escape Japanese justice on December 29.
Accused of financial embezzlement, the big boss who has French, Lebanese and Brazilian nationalities, was on bail, with a ban on leaving Japan, when he was exfiltrated from the archipelago hidden in a box for musical instrument.
Carlos Ghosn has since taken refuge in Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan. During a highly publicized press conference, he posed as the victim of a "set-up" and assured that he had had "no other choice" than to flee from "partial" justice.
© 2020 AFP