Here's where Canadians are living abroad: report
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
The defence for former Nissan executive Greg Kelly said Wednesday there was no evidence or motives linking him to alleged under-reporting of his ex-boss Carlos Ghosn's compensation.
Kelly's chief defence lawyer, Yoichi Kitamura, said in wrapping up the defence's arguments that Kelly is innocent and he had no knowledge of the complex calculations over Ghosn's unpaid remuneration, tabulated and updated by Nissan Motor Co. secretariat official Toshiaki Ohnuma.
Kitamura told the Tokyo District Court prosecutors had presented no evidence of exchanges about Ghosn's compensation between Kelly and Ohnuma.
"Kelly was not involved at all," Kitamura said.
Kelly, who sat quietly with the defence lawyers wearing his usual red tie and dark suit, pleaded innocent at the opening of the trial a year ago. In closing remarks, he reiterated he had been just trying to find legal ways to pay Ghosn after retirement.
"I was not involved in a criminal conspiracy, and I am not guilty of any crime," Kelly said, standing before the panel of three judges at the end of the session.
Reading from a statement, he said he always consulted Nissan lawyers to make sure all efforts to retain Ghosn were legal and acted in the company's best interests.
"I believe that the court will reach the same conclusion as the defence after a fair review of the relevant evidence in this case," he said.
Earlier in the daylong session, Kitamura, known for winning acquittals in a nation with a conviction rate higher than 99%, argued there was "no motive at all for Kelly to carry out such an illegal act."
"Greg Kelly is a lawyer. Even if he had wanted to prevent Carlos Ghosn from leaving, would he have committed a crime?" said Kitamura.
Kelly, an American, was in semi-retirement in the U.S. when Nissan lured him back to Japan, on the pretext of attending a meeting. He was arrested in November 2018, at the same time as Ghosn. But Ghosn jumped bail and fled to Lebanon in late 2019. Lebanon does not have an extradition treaty with Japan.
At the centre of the case is a 1 billion yen (US$9 million) a year pay cut Ghosn voluntarily took, starting in 2009, when disclosure of big executive salaries became legally required in Japan. Ghosn was worried about a public backlash as hefty executive pay packages are not common in Japan.
Prosecutors say that money, totalling about 9 billion yen ($80 million) should have been reported as compensation even though it was never paid or stipulated in a formal contract.
In wrapping up their arguments last month, prosecutors demanded two years in prison for Kelly. A verdict is not expected until March.
Critics of Japan's judicial system have blasted the cases against Ghosn and Kelly as "hostage justice."
Ghosn told The Associated Press in a recent interview he believes there was a conspiracy, concocted by officials at Nissan who feared greater control by French alliance partner Renault.
"Greg is paying the price of his honesty and his being straightforward," Ghosn said of Kelly. "He is the only person who isn't lying in the process."
After Wednesday's session, Kelly told reporters he had not spoken with Ghosn, but he loved Nissan and he wasn't going to worry about the verdict.
"I know what happened. Others know what happened. We've got documents that show what happened. And there was no crime. So ultimately, you know, my family or my friends, they know me. They know who I am. So what do I care about the rest? I mean, they know I didn't commit a crime," he said.
In a sign that Kelly is gaining support back home, Rahm Emanuel, former Chicago mayor, U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee for ambassador to Japan, told a Senate committee confirmation hearing last week that looking into Kelly's case was "a top priority."
"The No. 1 responsibility of an embassy and an ambassador is to make sure the safety, and ensure the safety, of a U.S. citizen on foreign soil," he said in response to a question from Republic Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, the state where Kelly lived before his arrest.
"You have my word," Emanuel said.
Hagerty, ambassador to Japan until mid-2019, said Kelly's human rights were violated, and his name should be cleared.
Nissan, the automaker behind the Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models, did not fight charges in the same trial as a corporate entity.
Separately, two Americans extradited from the U.S. on charges of helping Ghosn escape Japan were convicted in July. Michael Taylor was sentenced to two years in prison. His son Peter Taylor was sentenced to a year and eight months.
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
Polish President Andrzej Duda says while no decision has been made around whether Poland will host nuclear weapons as part of an expansion of the NATO alliance’s nuclear sharing program, his country is willing and prepared to do so.
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer said Saturday that the onetime movie mogul has been hospitalized for a battery of tests after his return to New York City following an appeals court ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction.
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
A number of LGBQT+2s groups in Central Alberta are pushing back against a request from the Red Deer South UCP constituency to reinstate MLA Jennifer Johnson into the UCP caucus.
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”