Ghosn accomplice calls for inmates to be treated humanely in Japan

TOKYO — A former U.S. Green Beret who served a prison term for helping former Nissan Motor Co Chairman Carlos Ghosn flee Japan said the country's penal system needs to be reformed to ensure more humane treatment of inmates.

Looking back on his time in prison in Tokyo, Michael Taylor said in late December he suffered "degrading and inhumane treatment," claiming to have been kept in solitary confinement for 17 months. He also said he was only permitted to take two showers in six months.

Taylor was sentenced to two years in prison by the Tokyo District Court in 2021 for helping Ghosn jump bail and escape from Japan hidden in a box on a private jet on Dec 29, 2019.

While imprisoned, Taylor suffered frostbite from being housed in an unheated cell, was allowed to write only four letters per month, and was not permitted to make phone calls to family or friends, even when he received news that his father was about to die, he said.

Such treatment violates the U.N. Convention Against Torture, which prohibits the use of torture and other acts of cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment, he told an online press conference hosted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan on Dec 23.

Taylor said he has no regrets about helping Ghosn escape after hearing the former Nissan leader "was being tortured," put in solitary confinement and subsequently prohibited from speaking to his wife as a condition of bail.

Arrested in November 2018 on suspicion of underreporting his remuneration and misusing the automaker's funds, Ghosn escaped to Lebanon after jumping bail.

Asked if Taylor felt it was unfair that Ghosn had been enjoying his freedom, he said, "Having Carlos out and free? No, that was the purpose of the mission."

Meanwhile, Taylor said it was "really shocking" when he found out he was facing arrest in Japan, as he had consulted with several attorneys before aiding Ghosn and was told that "bail jumping is not a crime" in the country's legal system.

Though Ghosn had covered "some of the legal fees," Taylor says he is still in debt from outstanding bills, after fees in Japan exceeded $500,000.

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