PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that he had repeatedly asked Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to improve the treatment of former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn while in custody.

At a press conference in Paris, Macron said that he had repeatedly told Abe that the conditions of Ghosn's detention and interrogation are not satisfying.

Macron said he hopes that all French people will be treated with the fairness they deserve.

Ghosn, who has French, Brazilian and Lebanese citizenship, was arrested in Tokyo in November 2018 and charged with financial misconduct.

Late last month, he fled Japan to Lebanon while out on bail awaiting trial.

The French president declined to comment on Ghosn's escape.

At a press conference on Jan. 8 in Beirut, Ghosn said that while in custody in Japan he had been questioned without a lawyer present for up to eight hours a day. French media have been critical about Japan's judicial system.

JIJI Press