Japan to seek talks with Lebanon over Carlos Ghosn’s escape

Japan is expected to talk with Lebanon through diplomatic channels regarding Carlos Ghosn’s escape from Japan for the Middle East country, according to a senior Japanese government official.

The comment Wednesday will mark some of the first indications about how Tokyo prepares to reply after the former head of Nissan Motor and Renault SA escaped out of Japan, where he was awaiting trial.

The official, who didn’t wish to be named, stated the government is still not aware about the details including how Ghosn escaped Japan and his current whereabouts.

Lebanon, where Ghosn grew up and holds citizenship, lacks an extradition treaty with Japan and it is unclear what methods the Japanese government will need to adopt in order to get Ghosn back to Japan.

The businessman also has French and Brazilian citizenship, though all his passports were already taken from him as a condition of his release on bail.

Ghosn, who deals with the charges of financial misconduct in Japan, has said he was escaping Japan’s “rigged” justice system and prepares to communicate his story with the public next week.

Since this incident of Ghosn’s escape broke some Japanese lawmakers, consisting of ruling party member Masahisa Sato, have commented on Twitter denouncing what they see as Ghosn’s disdain for Japanese law.

The Sankei newspaper referred to an unnamed top official at the prosecutor’s office as saying that Ghosn had made a mockery of the justice system of Japan.