Japan should introduce a more relaxed bail system but step up its surveillance of defendants in criminal cases to prevent a repeat of the dramatic escape by fallen auto titan Carlos Ghosn, a former Cabinet minister and Tokyo governor said Tuesday.
Despite bail conditions intended to restrict his movements ahead of a trial for alleged financial misconduct, Ghosn took a bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka, where he fled the country aboard a private jet late last month.
"When considering bail, the prosecutors and courts only think about destruction of evidence," Yoichi Masuzoe said by phone. "They didn't think about Ghosn escaping. That was their biggest mistake."