Japan's legal system came under the spotlight when Carlos Ghosn launched a vigorous self-defence in his first public appearance since jumping bail and fleeing to Lebanon. The former Renault-Nissan chief slammed everything from the country's sky-high conviction rate to the conditions he faced during 130 days of pre-trial detention. "I was facing a system where the conviction rate is 99.4 percent," he said, claiming that the rate for foreigners was likely even higher. "It is wrong to argue that a person cannot obtain a fair judgement because of the high conviction rate in Japan." Ghosn slammed the conditions as vindicative, saying prosecutors specifically blocked access to Carole to "break" him and that his decision to flee was motivated in large part by the rule.

Source: The Guardian January 09, 2020 08:03 UTC