Seven people, including four pilots, to stand trial over ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn’s escape from Japan to Lebanon
- Prosecutors are seeking up to eight years in prison each for the four pilots and the airline official
- The indictment states that Ghosn is believed to have been smuggled inside a ‘foam-covered music box’ large enough to carry a person 1.70m tall
Prosecutors are seeking up to eight years in prison each for the four pilots and the airline official, on charges of illegally smuggling a migrant, according to the indictment, cited by the state-run Anadolu Agency.
The two flight attendants face a one-year prison term each if convicted of not reporting a crime.
The Turkish airline company MNG Jet said in January that two of its planes were used illegally in Ghosn’s escape, first flying him from Osaka, Japan, to Istanbul, and then on to Beirut.
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The company said its employee had admitted to falsifying flight records so that Ghosn’s name did not appear on them.
The indictment states that Ghosn is believed to have been smuggled inside a “foam-covered music box” large enough to carry a person 1.70m tall, the private DHA news agency reported.
It notes a €216,000 and US$66,000 increase in the airline official’s bank accounts between October 16 and December 26, 2019.
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The four pilots and the two flight attendants have denied involvement in the plans to smuggle Ghosn. They also denied knowing that the former Nissan chief was aboard the flights, DHA reported.
The company employee and four pilots remain in custody while the flight attendants were released after questioning.
