BEIRUT/TOKYO: Former Nissan Motor Co. leader Carlos Ghosn is expected to justify his escape to Lebanon from Japan by claiming human rights violations he suffered in Japan at a press conference slated this week, according to sources close to him.

A lawyer for the former chairman of the major Japanese automaker has said that Ghosn will meet the press in the Lebanese capital of Beirut from 3 p.m. Wednesday (1 p.m. GMT).

Ghosn, who has been charged with financial misconduct, fled to Lebanon via Turkey late last month while on bail ahead of his trial. A source close to Ghosn said that only a limited number of journalists will likely be invited to attend the press conference.

"I can now finally communicate freely with the media and look forward to starting next week," Ghosn, 65, said in a statement released immediately after he arrived in Beirut on Dec. 30. Ghosn is believed to be fully preparing for the press conference, after almost shutting down communications with the media since the release of the statement.

Ricardo Karam, a journalist who has been acquainted with Ghosn for some 20 years, said that Ghosn was deprived of basic human rights after his release on bail, citing a ban on his meeting with his wife, among other things. Ghosn was not treated based on the presumption of innocence, Karam also said. Ghosn is expected to speak about these things at the press conference, Karam said.

Meanwhile, it is unclear how far Ghosn, who may be charged with violating the immigration control laws in Japan and Turkey, will go into details of his exodus from Japan.

In Tokyo on Monday, a Japanese government official said that the possibility is low for the Lebanese government to transfer Ghosn to Japan.

According to the official, Lebanese law bans the handover of a Lebanese citizen to a foreign government. Ghosn has Lebanese citizenship.

"What Japan can do is now limited, after Ghosn left Japan's territory," a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official said.

While Japan and Lebanon have no extradition treaty, Tokyo has asked Lebanon for cooperation with investigations into how Ghosn escaped from Japan and sought his handover.

JIJI Press