My father, Greg Kelly, has been trapped in Japan for the past 15 months, a victim of Japan’s draconian justice system.  There is a significant amount of evidence proving my father’s innocence, and furthermore, this issue should have been treated as a civil matter rather than a criminal case.  With no end in sight and a prosecutorial system that assumes guilt, we implore the US government to push for a resolution that allows my father to return home immediately.  

My father spent 30+ years at Nissan working his way up from a corporate attorney to eventually becoming the first American member of Nissan’s Board in 2012.  Along the way, he worked unbelievably long hours for the benefit of Nissan, often sacrificing time with friends and family. 

Nissan rewarded my father’s dedication by luring him to Japan in November 2018 under false pretenses for a business meeting, where he was arrested immediately upon arrival.  The charges were part of a conspiracy between Nissan and Japanese prosecutors.  Even worse, the senior executive who summoned my father to be arrested knew that my father was scheduled for critically urgent neck fusion surgery just two weeks later.

My father spent the next 35 days in solitary confinement, sleeping on the floor with no heat in the dead of winter.  The conditions of his incarceration and the delay in his surgery caused his neck condition to worsen.  He still suffers from shooting pains and numbness in his extremities as a result.  My father was also interrogated several hours per day without legal representation present and was prevented from contacting his family. 

Ultimately my father was indicted on false allegations that he underreported the earnings of former Nissan chairman, Carlos Ghosn.  My father’s arrest and detainment were based on financial reporting that had no financial impact on Nissan.  In reality, his charges were part of a power grab by Nissan executives to prevent Mr. Ghosn from merging Renault and Nissan.  

The allegations against my father of underreporting Mr. Ghosn’s compensation are not true and are related entirely to lawful actions that my father and others considered taking to retain the valuable services of Mr. Ghosn who was viewed as a retention risk by senior Japanese executives and directors at Nissan.  No agreement was ever executed with Mr. Ghosn and nothing was paid to him.  Japanese executives involved in the efforts to retain Mr. Ghosn were never arrested. 

This matter should have been resolved within Nissan and should not have ended up in the criminal system. Nobody from Nissan ever asked my father for an explanation about the actions that were being considered to retain Mr. Ghosn.  Many Japanese scholars and lawyers agree that this is not a criminal matter.  According to published accounts, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a private dinner earlier this year admitted that this matter should have been dealt with internally at Nissan. The Prime Minister is correct. 

I do not believe that my father can get a fair trial in Japan in large part because the chief witness in his case, Mr. Ghosn, has fled Japan and won’t be available to testify. Mr. Ghosn escaped Japan’s so-called “hostage justice” system and is living in Lebanon.  More than 1,000 Japanese academics and lawyers signed a letter drafted by Human Rights Watch criticizing Japan’s system with a conviction rate of 99.4 percent.  We do not want my father to miss out on years of time with his friends and family, especially his two grandsons, because nobody is willing to hold Japan accountable for its archaic justice system.

We, the undersigned, request the U.S. government to work with Prime Minister Abe’s administration to obtain Greg Kelly’s release and allow him to return to his family in the U.S.

Please help bring my father home!