<p class="title">According to Lebanese television station MTV, Carlos Ghosn arrived in Beirut in a private aircraft from Turkey and escaped from house arrest in Japan in a box of musical instruments.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Lebanese neighbours of embattled former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn have welcomed his sudden return from Japan, but anti-government protesters accused the ex-tycoon of belonging to a corrupt elite.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In an upper-class district of the Lebanese capital, traffic appeared normal in front the pink-coloured town house said to be the ex-auto tycoon's base in the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">AFP was not immediately able to confirm whether Ghosn was inside the house, where the pale blue shutters had been flung open but a black steel gate was firmly shut.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 65-year-old Brazil-born businessman has said he escaped "injustice" in Japan, where he was on bail awaiting trial over financial misconduct charges.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On the street corner, a shop owner in his fifties named Rene said he was delighted Ghosn had returned for New Year's Eve.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Injustice is unacceptable," said Rene, who said the business tycoon had been a guest of honour at his son's high school graduation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"They did him wrong. A person is innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around," he added quietly as his wife sat nearby.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Japan cannot treat like this a person who took over an indebted auto company and turned it around to make profits and become one of the world's leading firms."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many Lebanese view Ghosn as a symbol of their country's large diaspora and a prime example of Lebanese entrepreneurial genius, and were shocked by his sudden arrest in November 2018.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ghosn was out on bail after 130 days in a Japanese detention centre, but his flight to Lebanon has dumbfounded even his chief lawyer in Japan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He faces charges of deferring part of his salary until after his retirement and concealing this from shareholders, as well as syphoning off millions in Nissan cash for his own purposes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Journalists gathered in coats and woolly hats outside the pink house in Beirut Tuesday saw a security guard rushing out of the premises on a motorbike.</p>.<p class="bodytext">An unidentified man with greying hair approached the house and slipped a letter through the bars of the gate.</p>.<p class="bodytext">And soon after, two vehicles belonging to the security forces pulled up and a high-ranking officer stepped inside the premises briefly before returning to the street.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ghosn has consistently denied all charges against him, while he and his lawyers have repeatedly voiced fears he would not get a fair trial in Japan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But elsewhere on social media, Lebanese activists said Ghosn's return was the last straw for a country suffering a twin political and economic crisis.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Lebanese are facing a grinding dollar shortage even as politicians argue over a new cabinet, six weeks into unprecedented protests against a political elite deemed inept and corrupt.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Protesters of all political and confessional backgrounds have accused the country's leaders of syphoning off public funds.</p>.<p class="bodytext">(<em>With inputs from DH</em>)</p>
<p class="title">According to Lebanese television station MTV, Carlos Ghosn arrived in Beirut in a private aircraft from Turkey and escaped from house arrest in Japan in a box of musical instruments.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Lebanese neighbours of embattled former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn have welcomed his sudden return from Japan, but anti-government protesters accused the ex-tycoon of belonging to a corrupt elite.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In an upper-class district of the Lebanese capital, traffic appeared normal in front the pink-coloured town house said to be the ex-auto tycoon's base in the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">AFP was not immediately able to confirm whether Ghosn was inside the house, where the pale blue shutters had been flung open but a black steel gate was firmly shut.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 65-year-old Brazil-born businessman has said he escaped "injustice" in Japan, where he was on bail awaiting trial over financial misconduct charges.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On the street corner, a shop owner in his fifties named Rene said he was delighted Ghosn had returned for New Year's Eve.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Injustice is unacceptable," said Rene, who said the business tycoon had been a guest of honour at his son's high school graduation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"They did him wrong. A person is innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around," he added quietly as his wife sat nearby.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Japan cannot treat like this a person who took over an indebted auto company and turned it around to make profits and become one of the world's leading firms."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many Lebanese view Ghosn as a symbol of their country's large diaspora and a prime example of Lebanese entrepreneurial genius, and were shocked by his sudden arrest in November 2018.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ghosn was out on bail after 130 days in a Japanese detention centre, but his flight to Lebanon has dumbfounded even his chief lawyer in Japan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He faces charges of deferring part of his salary until after his retirement and concealing this from shareholders, as well as syphoning off millions in Nissan cash for his own purposes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Journalists gathered in coats and woolly hats outside the pink house in Beirut Tuesday saw a security guard rushing out of the premises on a motorbike.</p>.<p class="bodytext">An unidentified man with greying hair approached the house and slipped a letter through the bars of the gate.</p>.<p class="bodytext">And soon after, two vehicles belonging to the security forces pulled up and a high-ranking officer stepped inside the premises briefly before returning to the street.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ghosn has consistently denied all charges against him, while he and his lawyers have repeatedly voiced fears he would not get a fair trial in Japan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But elsewhere on social media, Lebanese activists said Ghosn's return was the last straw for a country suffering a twin political and economic crisis.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Lebanese are facing a grinding dollar shortage even as politicians argue over a new cabinet, six weeks into unprecedented protests against a political elite deemed inept and corrupt.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Protesters of all political and confessional backgrounds have accused the country's leaders of syphoning off public funds.</p>.<p class="bodytext">(<em>With inputs from DH</em>)</p>