Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn defends his decision to flee Japan

For the first time since he fled Japan more than a week ago, Carlos Ghosn has told his story to the public.

Mr. Ghosn, the former head of an auto empire that spanned continents, was facing charges of financial wrongdoing and had been under house arrest in Tokyo since spring.

Before he emerged, more than 100 journalists from across the world had jostled to get inside the conference room at the Lebanese Press Syndicate. A security team checked IDs and bags, and Lebanese reporters interviewed their Japanese counterparts about Mr. Ghosn’s escape from Tokyo.

Then the power briefly went out, as is won’t to happen in Lebanon, where daily power cuts force the population to rely on private generators.

Mr. Ghosn walked with his wife, Carole, into a frenzy of cameramen in a plain white conference room in Beirut, with a burst of flash bulbs going off. Organizers were pleading with the cameramen to back off. A burly, bearded bodyguard stood next to Mr. Ghosn at the lectern.

Speaking on Wednesday, at a news conference in Beirut, where he has since taken refuge, Mr. Ghosn portrayed himself as the victim of a rigged justice system and a corporate coup by disloyal underlings.

Mr. Ghosn began his speech as if he were giving a corporate presentation, promising a point-by-point defense and projecting documents on to a screen.

It looked as if he were set to draw on his background as a detail-oriented chief executive to sell another product: himself.

But he soon began to ramble, jumping from descriptions of his treatment by Japanese prosecutors to his theory that his arrest was the work of Nissan executives.

Mr. Ghosn said he thought his arrest was motivated by the fact that Nissan’s performance had begun to decline since 2018.

The auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn Wednesday alleged "collusion" between Nissan and Japan prosecutors over his "staged arrest," saying he was told by lawyers he faced a five-year wait for a verdict.

"The collusion between Nissan and prosecutors is everywhere," he said, claiming his arrest in Japan was "staged".

"When I asked my lawyers ... they said we're afraid it's going to be maybe five years in Japan before I get a judgement," he told reporters in Beirut, where he arrived after escaping from Japan where he was facing trial for financial misconduct.

 Since his arrest, Mr. Ghosn and his family have denounced the Japanese justice system, arguing that the former auto executive has been a victim of “injustice and political persecution.”

“I have not experienced a moment of freedom since Nov. 19, 2018,” he told the room of reporters. “It is impossible to express the depth of the aggravation and my profound appreciation once again to be able to be reunited with my family and loved ones.”

Mr. Ghosn defended his decision to flee Japan rather than face trial. “It was the most difficult decision of my life,” he said.

“I did not escape justice. I fled injustice and political persecution,” he added. “I was left with no other choice but to protect myself and my family.”

Mr. Ghosn also assailed his treatment by prosecutors.

“It will be over if you just confess,” he said, recalling what Japanese officials told him. “If you don’t confess, not only are we going to go after you, we are going to go after your family.”

Who is Carlos Ghosn?

Mr. Ghosn, 65, a celebrity in Japan and a hero to many in Lebanon, oversaw a turnaround at Nissan starting in the late 1990s and had the rare position of running two major companies simultaneously: Nissan and France’s Renault.

Born in Brazil and raised in Lebanon, Mr. Ghosn attended some of France’s best schools, the Lycée Saint-Louis and the École Polytechnique. He started his career at the tire maker Michelin and became head of the company’s North American operations. He lived in Greenville, S.C., before joining Renault as an executive in the 1990s.

But his career collapsed in late 2018, when he was arrested by the Japanese authorities and later charged with underreporting his compensation and shifting personal financial losses to Nissan. Nissan had also been indicted on charges of improperly reporting Mr. Ghosn’s income — and had said it would cooperate with prosecutors.

Throughout the more than 13 months since he was first arrested, Mr. Ghosn has denied any wrongdoing.