How is this for a plot twist? After more than a year in Japanese custody due for four counts of financial misconduct, disgraced former Nissan CEO has surfaced in Lebanon.

According to reports made by Automotive News, Ghosn issued a statement yesterday after arriving in Lebanon. He said he wasn’t fleeing justice in Japan, but rather escaping injustice and political persecution. Quoting the statement:

“I am now in Lebanon and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied, in flagrant disregard of Japan's legal obligations under international law and treaties it is bound to uphold…I have not fled justice—I have escaped injustice and political persecution.”

Ghosn plans to communicate with the media starting next week.

It wasn’t clear when and how Ghosn left Japan for Lebanon, where he is a citizen.

Japanese broadcaster NHK says both Ghosn’s Japanese legal team and prosecutors were both caught by surprise by these latest developments. The broadcaster also quoted a Lebanese security official saying that Ghosn landed in Lebanon by private jet, and entered the country under a different name.

For its part, the Tokyo District Court had not changed the bail conditions banning Ghosn from international travel. Yet, there is no record of his departure in the database of Japan’s Immigration Services Agency.

There is no extradition agreement between Japan and Lebanon.

Source: Automotive News