A Tokyo court rejected ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn’s request to attend a board meeting this week, denying him a seat at the table even as the carmaker looks set to bolster an alliance he built over two decades.
Prosecutors submitted a document to the Tokyo District Court from Nissan stating its opposition to Mr. Ghosn attending Tuesday’s board meeting, Mr. Ghosn’s lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, told reporters.
‘Regrettable’ move
“Nissan’s strong opposition to Ghosn’s attendance is very regrettable,” Mr. Hironaka said outside his law office. The defence team still had time to appeal the decision, he added, and the lawyers later duly filed an appeal, according to Kyodo News.
Mr. Ghosn was released on a $9 million bail only last week after more than 100 days in detention. He faces charges of under-reporting his salary at Nissan by about $82 million over nearly a decade, charges he has called “meritless”.
The Tokyo District Court on Monday declined to temporarily suspend a condition of Mr. Ghosn’s bail that stops him from meeting people linked to his case, blocking what would have been a dramatic face-off between the once-feted executive and the colleagues he has accused of fomenting a coup.
The court did not give a reason for its ruling.
Nissan could not be reached immediately for a comment outside business hours.
The court’s decision came as French automaker Renault SA , Nissan’s top shareholder, confirmed it was in talks with Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors about setting up a new alliance body to improve their collaboration.