Lawyers in Lebanon have asked the prosecution to initiate proceedings against the ex-Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn for a trip to Israel, a neighboring country where Lebanese nationals are not allowed to go, said one of them at AFP on Thursday.
At the end of a gigantic flight, the fallen car magnate sued in Japan for financial embezzlement arrived in Lebanon on Monday.
The businessman holds French, Brazilian and Lebanese nationalities. While still president of Renault-Nissan, he traveled to Israel in 2008 as part of a partnership to launch an electric car.
“Having a relationship with Israel is not a matter of opinion, the law prohibits normalization“Hassan Bazzi, one of three lawyers who filed a petition with the prosecution, said on Thursday.
The “report” presented to the prosecution accuses Mr. Ghosn of having committed “the crime of entering enemy country and violating the boycott law of Israel“, reported the official ANI news agency.
Neighboring countries, Lebanon and Israel are technically at war and Beirut prohibits its nationals from going to Israel or having contacts in the Hebrew state.
“Where was the public prosecutor’s office and general security during Mr. Ghosn’s previous visits to Lebanon, after he went to occupied Palestine and was photographed there“, protested Mr. Bazzi.
“Poor are prosecuted in Lebanon, while those who made millions by investing with the enemy are treated as heroes“, lambasted the lawyer.
On social media, users shared an old photo taken in Jerusalem showing Mr. Ghosn and the late Israeli President Shimon Peres.
In 2017, the famous Franco-Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri had run into trouble with Lebanese justice for scenes from his film “The Attack” filmed in Israel with Israeli actors.
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