The wife of former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn has urged New York-based Human Rights Watch to draw attention to his “harsh treatment” during detention in a Japanese jail, a letter read by Reuters revealed on Sunday.
Japanese officials have charged Ghosn with under-reporting earning and aggravated breach of trust for temporarily transferring personal investment losses to Nissan in 2008.
In a nine-page letter to Kanae Doi, the rights group’s Japan director, Carole Ghosn asked it to “shine a light on the harsh treatment of my husband and the human rights-related inequities inflicted upon him by the Japanese justice system”.
Ghosn was in charge of an alliance that consisted Nissan Motor, Mitsubishi Motors and France’s Renault, until his November arrest and elimination as chairman of the automakers sent shockwaves across the industry.
The government has rejected requests to end his detention, which has run since November 19. Ghosn’s lawyers have stated it would probably take over six months for his case to come to trial.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry stated Ghosn’s rights were assured under the nation’s laws.
Nissan said it was not in a position to discuss about the workings of the judicial system, or any decision by the Tokyo prosecutors’ office.
Officials at Human Rights Watch could not be reached for discussion on the letter, but its Asia director, Brad Adams, stated in an editorial on Thursday that Ghosn’s case “has shone a light” on Japan’s long-overlooked “hostage” justice system.
“Ghosn has not, and should not, receive preferential treatment,” Adams wrote in the editorial, which was published in the online edition of “The Diplomat”.
“But if Japan wants to live up to its reputation as one of the world’s most advanced democracies, it needs to modernize its criminal justice system,” he added.
“Regardless of the serious allegations against him, or the controversies surrounding his tenure at Nissan, no one should have their rights violated in this way while facing criminal charges.”
