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In the absence of any trace of the end of Carlos Ghosn's five-month legal drama, his wife played a prominent role in defending the president of Nissan Motor Co. She became her main spokesperson and travels the world to appeal to the public and politicians his name.
Carole Ghosn flew to France to ask the government to intervene, returned to Japan to be interviewed by prosecutors and participated in numerous media interviews in the United States, where she repeatedly proclaimed the innocence of her husband. She even wrote an editorial asking US President Donald Trump to act.
Although the media blitz may generate some sympathy, it will probably not have a significant impact on the outcome of the case, said Friday experts interviewed by the Japan Times.
In Japan, it is very unusual for the family member of an accused to engage in an aggressive media campaign before a trial to assert his innocence, said Kuniyoshi Shirai, professor of risk management at the Graduate School of Information. Tokyo Communication.
"Ms. Ghosn has been very active and uses various methods (to defend her husband's case), hoping that it will be released soon," said Shirai. "I'm sure she's using expert help (in public relations). "
Carole Ghosn spoke of her husband's innocence shortly after her first arrest. In January, she wrote to Human Rights Watch complaining about her husband's long detention and the court system as a whole. She gave several interviews to the press to highlight her fate.
But the last arrest of her husband seems to have inspired a large-scale offensive. Since April 4, she has multiplied appearances in the media and taken particularly bold steps, such as calls to leaders of France and the United States to help her husband in crisis and sick.
The Japan Times contacted Carole Ghosn for comments but did not respond at the time of publication.
On April 4, Carlos Ghosn received a new mandate, accused of diverting payments from a Nissan subsidiary to Suhail Bahwan Automobiles, a distributor in Oman. Prosecutors allege that a portion of the money, totaling about 560 million yen, was siphoned off to a Lebanese investment company that it actually owns, and used for personal use, such as the purchase of a yacht.
When the last time the former auto executive was arrested, which occurred early in the morning, Carole, at the end of the day, had given interviews to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal for give the story of her event to that of her husband.
She said her Lebanese passport, diary, letters and mobile phones were confiscated. Carole also claimed that her privacy had been invaded, claiming that when she had left the shower that morning, a prosecutor had given her a towel.
"I have been treated as a criminal even though I am not a suspect and have not been accused of anything," she wrote in an editorial released Thursday by the Washington Post. "The intention of the raid before dawn was clear: it was a deliberate and inhuman attempt to humiliate us, to invade our privacy and to violate our dignities the more fundamental as human beings. "
Media reports also suggest that she was involved in the latest case involving the Lebanese investment company. Prosecutors estimate that part of the money that would have been paid to the Lebanese company was transferred to a Virgin Islands company headed by Carole Ghosn, a Lebanese and American citizen, as well as a company. created by the couple's son in the United States, Kyodo News reported.
Renault SA, whose president was also Carlos Ghosn, had alerted the French authorities in February that he had perhaps diverted the money from the company for his wedding on the theme of Marie Antoinette at the Palace of Versailles.
In the Washington Post platform, Carole Ghosn also criticized what she and other critics have called the country's "hostage justice" system. She stated that the accused was not entitled to the same level of legal protection as that offered in the United States – citing prolonged pre-charge detentions and the absence of the right to counsel during his interrogation. She then asked Trump to discuss the case with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during their meeting at the White House at the end of the month.
"I hope and pray that our president will urge Abe to allow my husband to obtain bail so that he can prepare for the trial," she wrote.
Stephen Givens, an American corporate lawyer based in Tokyo, said the description of the raid could attract some sympathy from those outside of Japan.
At the same time, Givens said, the couple has not been able to refute the prosecutors' allegations, especially the latest complaint about the Oman dealer. Legal experts, including Givens, claim that it is the most serious charge brought to this point.
Givens also warned the duo that it was dangerous to repeat Ghosn's statements of innocence and ransack the Japanese justice system without addressing the charges against him.
"I think proclaiming your innocence and your victim when there is concrete evidence to the contrary makes you look bad," he said.
But another lawyer, Shigeru Nakajima, who practices transactional law in Tokyo, said that an accused in a criminal case rarely spoke publicly about the case before his trial because he was at risk of becoming trapped.
Shortly after the April 4 arrest, Carole Ghosn left Japan with her US passport to travel to France. According to media reports, the media told her that she had gone to France for her safety and to appeal to the French government to do more.
Yasuyuki Takai, a lawyer and former prosecutor of the Tokyo District Prosecutor's Office, said Carole Ghosn's departure for France was not a wise decision and could affect the court's decision to grant a bail hearing. bail. He also described his campaign in the media as a "futile" effort that would not influence the outcome of the case.
Back in Japan to answer the prosecutors' questions, she then went to New York. There, she continued to search for media coverage, appearing on Fox Business Network and speaking to the Associated Press.
Shirai, the professor of risk management, echoed the opinion that his media coverage would have a limited impact. Despite his requests to the French and American governments, he said that it was unlikely that they would act to avoid interfering in the internal affairs of a country. other country.
Even in France, where the former auto nation initially enjoyed broad support, "the government and people are becoming more and more skeptical of it," said Shirai.
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