Three Convicted For Involvement In Ghosn Escape
A Turkish court has convicted an official of a private airline and two pilots in connection with the escape out of Japan of former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn in late December 2019.
Ghosn skipped bail while awaiting trial for alleged financial misconduct. He flew out of Japan on a Turkish private airline jet and arrived in Lebanon via Turkey.
Seven people -- the official of the airline MNG Jet, four pilots and two cabin attendants -- faced trial at a court in Istanbul.
On Wednesday, the court sentenced the official and two pilots who flew Ghosn to Turkey to four years and two months in prison for smuggling a foreigner out of Japan.
The court did not disclose details, such as whether the roughly 300,000-dollar transfer to the official's bank account was payment from Ghosn, or whether the pilots knew the identity of their passenger.
The three men plan to appeal the ruling.
Two other pilots who flew Ghosn from Turkey to Lebanon were acquitted, because Ghosn has Lebanese citizenship and carrying him would not amount to smuggling.
The cabin attendant on the flight from Japan to Turkey was also acquitted, while charges against the other cabin attendant on the flight from Turkey to Lebanon were dropped.