Ghosn criticized the Japanese justice system, which has been described as ‘Kafkaesque’... The term refers to early 20th-century writer Franz Kafka’s portrayals of nightmarishly oppressive bureaucracies. At his press conference, Ghosn said, “I didn’t escape because I was guilty. I escaped because I had zero chance of a fair trial.” He also said the odds were stacked against him from the beginning because 99% of indicted people are convicted in Japan... The collusion between Nissan and the prosecutor is everywhere... The only people who don’t see it, maybe, are the people in Japan... and I’ve been told this is totally illegal. Look, I understand if you find it hard to believe that Nissan executives and Japanese government prosecutors conspired to put a popular businessman in jail and leave him there. But it’s hard for me to believe that the automotive alliance – a major corporation with an army of auditors – didn’t know how much it was paying its chairman. I also find it odd that Nissan doesn’t seem to take responsibility for paying Ghosn... as if Ghosn paid himself any time he wanted by making a random withdrawal from Nissan’s bank accounts. So in the end, none of what Ghosn claims strikes me as totally absurd or untenable. All governments lie, cheat, and prosecute people unjustly... The prospect of losing a big public case would embarrass any well-ensconced satrapy holder,
especially in a culture like Japan’s... where “losing face” can ruin your career, and ideas like truth and ethics are different than where most of us live in the West. It’s easy to imagine Nissan executives ganging up on Ghosn, angry that he was getting paid a fortune compared with them, and that he had five homes, instead of the traditional single executive residence provided by most Japanese companies. And it’s easy to see Japanese prosecutors as characters straight out of one of Kafka’s novels, twisting the truth to influence the outcome. It’s in their job description, not to mention every bureaucrat’s DNA. As I said earlier, Ghosn thought he would never leave Japan or see his family again. And as he told reporters during the press conference in Beirut... It’s not very difficult to come to a conclusion – you’re going to die in Japan, or you’re going to have to get out. This was not about justice... I felt I was the hostage of a country that I have served for 17 years. On the other hand, I’m not in love with Ghosn either... He’s not my style. For example, in October 2016, Ghosn held his wife’s birthday party at the lavish palace of Versailles... a €50,000 expense that mysteriously wound up on the company’s dime. Ghosn later tried to say, “Oh, I thought it was a gift” from France because Renault had sponsored the Versailles renovation. He’s also known to be very combative and
American Consequences
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