I agree with this editorial in the New York Times. I’m not a particular fan of Carlos Ghosn but he has been locked up in small cell in a Tokyo detention center for three months (since Nov. 19) where he has undergone repeated questioning by Japanese prosecutors without his lawyers being present. His alleged crimes of understating his income and shifting some personal financial losses onto Nissan’s books temporarily are white collar crimes, if they in fact occurred. It’s clear that Nissan executives bear Ghosn great animus because he wanted to consumate a merger between Renault and Nissan, rather than continuing an alliance. There is simply no good reason to deny Ghosn bail particularly if arrangements can be made to secure his continued presence in Japan.
The longer this detention without bail goes on, the more the world is going to question whether Japan respects international legal standards or is going down the path of forced detention and forced labor that China is using against large numbers of its own citizens.
