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The Tokyo District Court has overturned plans to begin the trial of former Nissan Motor Co chairman Carlos Ghosn in September, without proposing a new deadline, sources close to the case said Friday.
The decision, which could mean the lawsuit will not start this year, was taken while Ghosn had been indicted for the fourth time earlier in the month for a new allegation of financial misconduct. The 65-year-old was released on bail Thursday.
The sources also said the court had decided not to separate the trial of Ghosn, his close associate Greg Kelly, 62, and Nissan. All were charged with violating the Financial Instruments Act by under-reporting the compensation of the former chairman.
The court's decisions were disclosed to Ghosn prosecutors and lawyers during their talks Friday, sources said.
Ghosn should step up his preparations to defend himself after his release from the Tokyo Detention Center for the second time since his first arrest in November.
He also faces an unusual bail condition that prevents him from contacting his wife without court approval, but there is still a chance that the restriction will be lifted.
According to the experts, this means that Ghosn, released on bail of 500 million yen ($ 4.5 million), may not be able to communicate with her before the verdict of the first trial, unless the court n & # 39, accepts the request of his defense team to cancel it before that date.
The Japanese Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that bail conditions must be set if a court accepts the release of a suspect. However, defense lawyers are allowed to request changes, regardless of the timing of the first trial.
It is quite possible that Mr. Ghosn's lawyers will ask the court to lift the ban on contact when they have reduced the critical points in the course of the trial preparations.
The lawyer Junichiro Hironaka said that he "did not believe (the definition of contact) was detailed".
"Restricting communications and contacts between my wife and me is cruel and unnecessary," Ghosn said in a statement released after his release. "We love each other very much, she answered all the questions of the prosecutors and she did nothing wrong."
Tokyo prosecutors told the court that his wife Carole had made contact with people related to the allegations. The first release of Ghosn on March 6 was conditional on the lack of contact with these people, but the same behavior of his wife was not forbidden.
The Ghosn affair has drawn international attention to the Japanese criminal justice system, which some have described as "justice being held hostage". Critics say the system allows authorities to keep alleged perpetrators in difficult conditions for long periods of time, hoping to seek an admission of guilt.
In the last and fourth indictment, Mr. Ghosn faces a charge of aggravated breach of trust related to the misuse of Nissan funds paid to an Omani distributor.
According to sources close to the record, some of the money would have been routed to Ghosn's wife company, where some could have been used to purchase a luxury yacht. worth 1.6 billion yen, mainly for the use of the family.
Ghosn also reportedly underestimated its remuneration of 9.1 billion yen in securities reports filed by Nissan to Japanese regulators over the last eight years until March last year.
Mr. Ghosn has been removed from his position as president of Nissan and its partners, Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. He has also been replaced as CEO of Renault.
Ghosn continued to assert that he was innocent via interviews and a video message recorded prior to his arrest on April 4, accusing Nissan's executives of conspiring against him.
Although his arrest is the result of an agreement reached between two senior Nissan officials and prosecutors, the Tokyo District Court on Friday told lawyers and prosecutors that he would "carefully" consider the credibility of their statements.
© KYODO
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