Because of globalization, “they have to respect human rights, and may have thought that long-term detention wasn’t good,” he added. “They may start thinking about global standards.”
Any time justice serves anything other than justice - how the rest of the world may perceive Japan - you can bet justice become politicized.
3
This is just too stupendous to believe from the land of the Rising Sun - a society known for its impeccable manners and consideration of fellow citizens. And for sure, since end of WW II.
I have been an expat for many years in the oil patch - most of the time employed by an American Major.
As a part of benefits package, they pay for tax services from the likes of KPMG.
It is unthinkable that KPMG could help me deceive a local government on my income or taxes.
The reason is simple.
The contract that my company signs with a local government requires it to disclose all of my expenses - many of which are deductions for their own taxes.
So, how could the host government, Japan, in case of Mr Ghosn - way way above my pay grade - not know of his compensation.
From all reporting I have read - this is a score settling over a board room politics or worse - a personal vendetta by Japanese executives against a foreigner.
And don't forget - they are paying for his lawyers - every dime as he is still a board member.
My hope is when he gets out of Japan - he hires a big time lawyer and sues the heck out of Nissan and the Japanese government.
And he wins big.
7
No good deed goes unpunished, as the saying goes, but beyond that, there seems to be something out of whack here.
None of us is perfect, and Mr. Ghosn may have erred, but I get the real sense that justice in proportion to the alleged "crimes" is not being sought and that Mr. Ghosn is being used as a pawn in someone's game of ambition.
5
Japan cannot be trusted. Ghosn saved hundreds of thousands of Japan auto industry workers in Nissan and supporting subcontractor firms, from joblessness.
He rebuilt Nissan from certain bankruptcy into a thriving company. This is how Japan has repaid its saviour, after he saved them from crisis.
But this case is particularly evil and degrading.
Because it is a collusion among the Japan Government, Japan police and the Japanese directors inside Nissan top management. The Japanese directors want this foreigner forced out of the company. This is exceptional because it is Japan government involving itself into a private sector firm's board room cloak + dagger office politics.
By arresting Ghosn under false allegations, Japan police hope to force him by endless jailing until he "confesses" to a non-existent "crime". He was kept in solitary confinement in very cold conditions during winter. This is a form of prolonged torture, for which Japanese are well known.
US marines who suffer under the Japan Kempetai will recall.
After the "confession" is obtained under torture, the case goes to Japanese court and in 2 seconds, Ghosn is pronounced "Guilty" as charged.
This is the depraved "justice" that Japan is infamous for.
If Ghosn was an American citizen, Japan government, Japan police and Nissan board of directors, will NEVER dare to do this to him. US government will bite Shinzo Abe's head off and feed it to the dogs if the latter tried this to a US citizen.
5
Is Carlos Ghosn a ruthless, immoral CEO? Probably, but certainly not more than thousands like him, including his Nissan cronies, who had to be ruthless and immoral to get where they did in the first place. This is hypocritical, pointing at somebody for doing business the way it is needed for mass auto ownership.
4
Wall Street needs this kind of relentless Japanese prosecutors who can put CEOs behind bars.
3
It does seem clear that the Japanese legal system is going to be on trial in the court of global public opinion along with Mr Ghosn.
12
Main Street to Wall Street: time long overdue for U.S. to follow in Japan's footsteps and rethink your current antiquated, all but moribund governance practices, starting with boards and executive suites. There's nothing that Ghoshn has been accused of that is not common practice among C suite occupants, most especially CEOs and CFOs (not to mention directors), many of whom are in each other's pockets when it comes to mutually reciprocating yet often conflicting compensation practices. The vast majority of folks in these jobs at the Fortune 500 are greedy, grossly over paid individuals aided and abetted by a relative handful of the same ex CEO directors serving on boards and the same accounting and law firms, all in cahoots with each other. There's no part of the press that has done a worse job over the past few decades covering these and other all too common machinations than business side journalists. Ghoshn should be a wake up call.
9
I truly hope Ghosn finds time (and gets approval from the court) to attend a Nissan board meeting. Saikawa should then get the courage to tell him to his face what exactly Ghosn did wrong and why he thinks that an internal corporate matter ended up being treated as a criminal matter.
In addition, while Ghosn should not attempt to destroy or tamper with any evidence, Saikawa should also stop fabricating evidence to suit his end result.
Make no mistake about this. If Ghosn is guilty of anything, he most certainly will have done everything with the full knowledge and participation of Saikawa, a man whose job was on the line the day Ghosn was arrested.
20
Japan's high conviction rate is often slammed in the US even though our own system has a 90%+ rate of pleas or convictions of guilt. There's also no "civil forfeiture" laws allowing authorities to confiscate nearly all of a defendant's property pursuant to an insane, racist and counter-productive war on drugs. There's also no Japanese Gitmo. Ditto kids in cages. Watch the glass walls as you hurl rocks at the Japanese system.
D.A., J.D., NYC (fmr resident of Tokyo)
9
@David Anderson
All Japanese prisons are effectively Gitmo. You may be kept indefinitely without communication and access to a lawyer, and you may be psychologically tortured (sleep deprivation, endless interrogations, etc) for as long as they want.
If you at any time sign a confession to get it to stop, the Japanese legal system will never accept an attempt to retract it, and the above coercion is considered perfectly acceptable.
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A first offense for drug possession in Japan is up to 5 years in prison, which is far, far harsher than what is on the table in most of the US at this point.
90% and 99% are very different numbers.
11
Good news. Now Mr Ghosn may have the opportunity for a fair trial. It should be obvious to anyone with a brain that the Japanese "justice" system is deeply flawed and the pre-trial detention system is effectively form of torture that violates every detainee's human and civil rights and should be the object of a United Nations investigation.
25
I agree!
1