BEIRUT — Japan wants cooperation with Lebanon in the case of ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn and to develop bilateral ties, deputy justice minister Hiroyuki Yoshiie said during a visit to Lebanon on Monday, according to the Lebanese presidency.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun told Yoshiie that Lebanon had sent a correspondence to Japan over the Ghosn case but had not received any official response, the presidency said on its Twitter feed. Aoun also noted that Lebanon and Japan had no judicial cooperation or extradition treaty.
Yoshiie told the Lebanese government that Ghosn should stand trial in Japan, adding that Beirut had agreed to cooperate but without saying how.
“We believe it is obvious and natural for Ghosn to stand trial in Japan and this view has been communicated to Lebanese government,” Yoshiie said during a Beirut news conference.
“And we agreed to cooperate on that,” he said, declining to give details of how Lebanon had agreed to cooperate.
Ghosn fled Japan to Lebanon, his childhood home, in December as he awaited trial on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds, all of which he denies.
Ghosn was questioned in Lebanon in January over an Interpol warrant and faces a travel ban. Ghosn has said he will cooperate fully with the Lebanese judicial process.
Ghosn’s lawyer said at the time of his questioning he was “very comfortable” with legal proceedings in Lebanon.
Ghosn has said he had “zero chance” of a fair trial in Japan. Japan has described that as an unfounded accusation.
