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Ghosn flight prompts renewed focus on Japan's strict justice system

TOKYO — Carlos Ghosn's daring flight from Japan, where he was awaiting trial on charges of financial wrongdoing, has revived global criticism of the nation's "hostage justice," but in Japan is prompting talk of reversing more lenient curbs on defendants. The ousted boss of Japan's Nissan and France's Renault fled to Lebanon, saying on Tuesday that he had "escaped injustice" and would "no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system." Ghosn was first arrested in November 2018 when his private jet landed in Tokyo and kept in jail for more than 100 days as prosecutors added more charges, all of which he has denied. He was released on $9 million bail in March — only to be arrested and bailed again the following month. He was facing four charges, including underreporting his Nissan salary and transferring personal financial losses to his employer's books while he ran Japan's No. 2 automaker. His apparent escape from Japan's legal system — Tokyo and Lebanon don't have an extradition treaty — will likely halt or even reverse a trend of recent years toward granting bail in more cases, said Colin Jones, a law professor at Doshisha Law School in Kyoto. “I would expect it to be more difficult for foreign defendants to get bail,” Jones said. In Japan, suspects who deny the charges against them are often detained for long periods and subject to intense questioning without a lawyer present, a system critics call "hostage justice." Japanese civil rights groups and the main bar lawyers association have long criticized a system that convicts 99.9% of criminal defendants. They say it gives too much power to prosecutors, who can detain suspects for long periods before indictment, and relies too much on confessions, some later found to have been forced and false. Ghosn's escape is clearly a shock to Japan's legal establishment. "This case raises the extremely serious issue of whether it's all right to continue the trend toward bail leniency," said former prosecutor Yasuyuki Takai. "The legal profession and lawmakers need to quickly consider new legal measures or a system to prevent such escapes," Takai, who was formerly with the special investigation unit of the prosecutor's office, told public broadcaster NHK.

Fast & Furious Nissan 350Z offered for big money

Fans of the Fast & Furious film franchise will want to check out this latest listing. It may be located all the way over the pond in the UK, but it could be worth the trouble for the rare privilege of owning one of the stars of Tokyo Drift. It just won't come cheap. The vehicle in question is a 2002 Nissan 350Z tuned by Veilside for use in the third F&F film. It's got a Version 3 widebody kit and twin APS turbochargers that bring output up to 430 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. All that muscle is handled by a Nismo two-way differential and twin-plate clutch. It's got a roll cage, NOS tank, center-lock modular alloys, racing buckets... the works. It's the car that Takashi drove in the movie, and was imported to the UK by its current owner. With 9,800 miles on the odometer, it's currently listed at Cheshire Classic Cars for a hair under GBP150,000 – or about $235k at current exchange rates. Now if that strikes you as quite a handsome sum, you may be right - especially considering that the Toyota Supra from the first movie just sold a few months ago for $185k. That's a hefty $50,000 difference, which could account for a pretty sweet garage to display it in or a whole lot of extra tires after you smoke these ones bald. True, the pink Supra it may not have aged as well as this sinister-looking black Datsun, but then that Toyota is the one that the late star of the franchise Paul Walker drove himself. So as far as investments go, Walker's Supra is bound to appreciate in value better than the Drift King's Z. Related Video:

Nissan to pursue FWD Nurburgring lap record with Pulsar Nismo

Europeans get very serious about their hot hatches. So do the Japanese. In fact there's been a whole back-and-forth lately over who makes the fastest one, and now Nissan looks set to throw its racing hat into the 'Ring.
That would be the Nürburgring, of course, where automakers trade bragging rights like baseball cards - only they don't give them up willingly. Renault set the front-drive lap record in 2008 with the previous Mégane R26.R then set the bar even higher with the Mégane RS 265 Trophy. That was before Seat stole the honors with its Leon Cupra 280, only for Renault to take them back again with the Mégane RS 275 Trophy-R. Seat is rumored to be considering a renewed assault, but it won't be the only one nipping at Renaultsport's heels in the coming years.
Honda, for its part, has made no secret of its ambition to set the record with the upcoming Civic Type R, and now word has it that Nissan is planning an assault of its own. Its weapon of choice would be an upcoming Nismo version of the new Pulsar hatchback which is just hitting the European market now as a rival to the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf, et al. There's no word on what its specs would be, but if it's going to challenge these players, it's going to need between 270 and 300 horsepower, a stiff suspension, big brakes and probably some sort of trick differential.