France asks Japan to respect Ghosn's legal rights



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The French Foreign Minister on Saturday called for consular protection and the presumption of innocence in talks with his Japanese counterpart on the Carlos Ghosn affair, following the new arrest of the president. former boss of Nissan and Renault in Japan.

Jean-Yves Le Drian said he spoke about the Ghosn affair with Taro Kono on the sidelines of the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) in the French seaside resort of Dinard.

Their discussions took place one day after the Japanese court's decision that Mr Ghosn be kept in detention until at least April 14 after his new arrest in Tokyo.

"I have of course talked about the Ghosn affair with my colleague," Le Drian told the press after the end of the G7 meeting.

"I told him two things: that France fully respects the sovereignty and independence of the Japanese justice system, and I also reminded her of our commitment to the presumption of innocence and the full rights of consular protection. . "

Ghosn spent 108 days in detention in North Tokyo before being released on bail of about $ 9 million on March 6. But his re-arrest last week came as authorities investigated new allegations that Ghosn had transferred some $ 15 million in Nissan funds between late 2015 and mid-2018 to a dealer in Oman.

In an interview with French television recorded just before his last arrest, the businessman, who owns French, Brazilian and Lebanese nationalities, called on the French government "to defend me" and called on the authorities Japanese to respect the presumption of innocence.

Ghosn had long been hailed as the architect of the alliance between Renault and Nissan – and later Mitsubishi – before his shock arrest in Tokyo in November.

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