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		</div><p>Nissan’s fugitive ex-chairman Carlos Ghosn has described his arrest in Japan, from which he escaped last month, as a plot against him and his detention conditions as a “travesty” against human rights.</p>
<p>In his first appearance since his daring and improbable escape from Japan, Ghosn told a news conference in Beirut that the decision to flee “was the most difficult of my life”.</p>
<p>He was due to stand trial for alleged financial misconduct at the carmaker and on Wednesday again dismissed all allegations against him as untrue.</p>
<p>With big gestures and a five-part slide presentation projected behind him, Ghosn brought his case to the global media and said his view on fleeing Japan was: “You are going to die in Japan or you are going to get out.”</p>
<p>He quickly said he would not address the details of his escape, which has perplexed and embarrassed Japanese authorities.</p>
<p>Media reports have said he left his Tokyo residence alone, skipping bail despite supposedly rigorous surveillance.</p>
<p>He met two men at a hotel and then took a bullet train to Osaka before boarding a private jet hidden inside a case for musical equipment.</p>
<p>He flew to Istanbul and was then transferred on to another plane bound for Beirut, where he arrived on December 30.</p>
<p>Ghosn portrayed his arrest as a plot linked to a decline in the financial performance of Nissan.</p>
<p>He had been in favour of merging Nissan with industry ally Renault, of which he was also chairman.</p>
<p><em>“Unfortunately there was no trust. And some of our Japanese friends thought that the only way to get rid of Renault in Nissan is to get rid of me,”</em> he said.</p>
<p><em>“I should never have been arrested in the first place,”</em> he said.</p>
<p><em>“I’m not above the law and I welcome the opportunity for the truth to come out and have my name cleared,”</em> he told a packed room of journalists.</p>
<p>Ghosn said he would be ready to stand trial “anywhere where I think I can have a fair trial”.</p>
<p>He declined to say what country that might be.</p>
<p>Lebanon last week received an Interpol-issued wanted notice – a non-binding request to law enforcement agencies worldwide that they locate and provisionally arrest a fugitive.</p>
<p>Lebanon and Japan do not have an extradition treaty, and the Interpol notice does not require Lebanon to arrest him.</p>
<p>Lebanese authorities have said Ghosn entered the country on a legal passport, casting doubt on the possibility they would hand him over to Japan.</p>
<p>At the request of the Japanese government, Interpol published the notice on its website on Wednesday as Ghosn was giving his news conference.</p>
<p>Japanese justice officials acknowledge that it is unclear whether the Ghosns can be brought back to Japan to face charges.</p>
<p>Ghosn’s former employer, Nissan Motor Co, said it was still pursuing legal action against him despite his escape, adding that Ghosn engaged in serious misconduct while leading the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance.</p>
<p>Ghosn denies all the charges.</p>
<p>In France, meanwhile, prosecutors are investigating a 50,000-euro (£42,000) gift from the chateau of Versailles to Ghosn, linked to a lavish party there.</p>
<p>Renault alerted French authorities after a company investigation found that Ghosn personally benefited from “an exchange worth 50,000 euros in the framework of a philanthropic accord signed with the Chateau of Versailles”.</p>
<p>Renault said in June that an internal audit with partner Nissan found 11 million euros (£9.3 million) in questionable expenses at their Dutch-based holding linked to Ghosn.</p>
<p>The two carmakers recommended legal action in the Netherlands, where the alliance is based, and ordering Ghosn himself to reimburse the company for some of the expenses.</p>
<p>Earlier in the day, Tokyo prosecutors raided a Japanese lawyer’s office where Ghosn had visited regularly before he fled.</p>
<p>Japanese media reports said prosecutors were likely to have seized a computer to track down how Ghosn escaped and who might have helped him.</p>
<p>An hour before the scheduled press conference, a Lebanese prosecutor said Ghosn will be summoned “in the coming hours” over a visit to Israel more than 10 years ago, according to the state-run National News Agency.</p>
<p>Two Lebanese lawyers had submitted a report to the Public Prosecutor’s Office against Ghosn last week, saying he violated Lebanese law by visiting Israel.</p>
<p>The two neighbouring countries are technically in a state of war.</p>
<p>Prosecutor Ghassan Khoury met with the two lawyers who filed the case on Wednesday and asked them to bring additional evidence, adding he would summon Ghosn in the coming hours.</p>
<p>Ghosn visited Israel in 2008 and met officials including the prime minister and the president.</p>
<p>At the time, he announced the launch of electric cars in Israel.</p>
<p>The notice was previously only sent to Interpol’s member governments but not shared with the public.</p>
<p>Ghosn, who is Lebanese and also holds French and Brazilian passports, was expected to go on trial in Tokyo in April.</p>
<p>In earlier statements, he has said he fled to avoid “political persecution” by a “rigged Japanese justice system”.</p>
<p>He also said that he alone organised his departure from Japan and that his wife Carole played no role.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, Tokyo prosecutors obtained an arrest warrant for Mrs Ghosn on suspicion of perjury.</p>
<p>That charge is not related to his escape.</p>
<p>Lebanon’s justice minister said Lebanon has not received any request related to that warrant.</p>
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