Carlos Ghosn unleashes on Nissan and Japanese prosecutors in a rambling press conference, refuses to reveal details of his escape to Lebanon

REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn gestures as he speaks during a news conference at the Lebanese Press Syndicate in Beirut, Lebanon January 8, 2020.

• Carlos Ghosn, the fugitive former Nissan executive facing charges of financial malfeasance in Japan, painted a picture of a corporate plot between his former employer and Japanese prosecutors in his first public comments on the case Wednesday.
• Ghosn gave a lengthy press conference in front of international media during which he criticized his November 2018 arrest and accusations that he underreported his income and misused corporate funds, accused his critics of "character assassination."
• The automotive executive is on the run from Japan after having escaped house arrest there on December 31, 2019, later resurfacing in Beirut, Lebanon, where he asserted that he was escaping "injustice and political persecution."
• Follow full coverage of Carlos Ghosn's international escapade here.

Carlos Ghosn railed against his former employer and colleagues, Japanese prosecutors, and the media in a lengthy press conference on Wednesday morning, his first public comments since he fled to Lebanon from Japan last year.

Ghosn criticized his November 2018 arrest and accusations that he underreported his income and misused corporate funds, accused his critics of "character assassination."

"As you can imagine today is a very important day for me," Ghosn said, "one I have looked forward to every single day for more than 400 days since I was brutally taken for my world as I knew it, and ripped from my family, my friends, my communities, from Renault-Nissan, and Mitsubishi, and the 450,000 women and men who comprise those companies."

The automotive executive is on the run from Japan after having escaped house arrest there on December 31, 2019, later resurfacing in Beirut, Lebanon, where he asserted that he was escaping "injustice and political persecution."

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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