Two men questioned in Lebanon at Turkey's request over 2019 escape of former Nissan tycoon Ghosn

abcnews.go.com:

Lebanese judicial officials say authorities in Beirut have questioned two people at Turkey's request on suspicion of being involved in the 2019 escape of auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn from Japan to Lebanon

BEIRUT — Lebanese judicial authorities have questioned two people at the request of Turkey on suspicion of being involved in the 2019 escape of auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn from Japan to Lebanon via Istanbul, officials said Friday.

The news came a week before a hearing in Lebanon as part of a $1 billion lawsuit that Ghosn, formerly the president of Nissan, filed against the company and about a dozen people in Beirut over his imprisonment in Japan and what he says was misinformation spread against him.

Ghosn was arrested in Japan in November 2018 on charges of breach of trust, misusing company assets for personal gain and violating securities laws by not fully disclosing his compensation. Before he could stand trial, however, he escaped to Lebanon, via Turkey, apparently hidden in a box on a private plane.

Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan and does not extradite its citizens. Ghosn has French, Brazilian and Lebanese citizenship.

Turkey is investigating whether the two men committed an offense while on its territory. In 2021, a Turkish court convicted an official from a private airline and two pilots for involvement in Ghosn’s escape from Japan, and sentenced them each to four years and two months in prison.

The officials said one of the two men questioned is a Lebanese pilot who was at the airport in Istanbul when the plane carrying Ghosn from Japan landed. The pilot, officials said, denied that he got paid to help Ghosn escape to Beirut. The Associated Press agreed to withhold the pilot's name at the request of