"I was in solitary confinement for 17 months. Two showers in six-and-a-half months. What civilized country does that?"
"99.4% conviction rate—what chance do you think I had?"
"It was a business decision. Plead guilty and serve 2 years or wait 3 and a half years for trial and then get convicted and spend 2-3 more years"
Mr. Taylor, having planned and executed what some would call the greatest escape, many people are praising you for the ingenuity. Others say you assisted a criminal, therefore you yourself have committed a crime. How do you see yourself?
Article 103 of the Japanese Penal Code says clearly it's not a crime. Bail-jumping is not a crime in Japan, which a lot of people around the world don't realize, cause most Western countries and even in the Middle East, if you're out on bail and you depart that country, it's a violation of law. That's not the case in Japan. So people are entitled to their opinions. But the fact of the matter is the law is the law. Article 103 of the Japanese Penal Code is clear. It says that it's only a violation of law if you help somebody get released from incarceration such as prison, a police car in handcuffs.
But you pleaded guilty. Guilty of what exactly? And if you don't think you committed a crime, why didn't you just go ahead with the trial?
Very simple. It was a business decision. To get to a trial in Japan, as we saw with Greg Kelly, it takes an average of three- to three-and-a-half years. So to get to a trial, I'd have to sit there in jail, in solitary confinement at the Tokyo Detention Center for three- to three-and-a-half years.
But you apologized to the prosecutor and Japanese justice system for helping Ghosn escape. Was this done under duress?
Of course it was. I was in solitary confinement there. I was in solitary confinement for 17 months. I was allowed to have a shower two times in six-and-a-half months. What civilized country does that?
So you think your trial in Japan was rigged from the get-go. You clearly don't think highly of the Japanese legal system, do you?
Of course, it was rigged from the get-go. It was a political decision. You know, (former US President Donald) Trump and (former US Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo are the ones that, you know, (who) extradited us. Trump beating his chest constantly saying he protects veterans. And the number one job of the president of the United States, of any nation, is protect their citizens.
As we saw recently, the British courts denied an extradition request to ship some British citizens to Japan because they say, the British courts say very clearly, that Japan tortures people and violates their human rights. Therefore, they will not extradite them.
There were allegations that you and your son Peter were subjected to torture in prison. Is that true? Take us through the way you were treated.
Of course, it's true. Well, you have no attorney-client privilege, first of all. So to speak to my attorneys and to tell them about the briefings that I had with prosecutors, the interrogation, I have to write it down on a piece of paper that says privileged communication.
However, your privileged communication is a farce because I have to give those papers to the guard. The guards copy them, do whatever they want with them. And you know, 20, 30 minutes later, they get to my lawyers who are sitting on the opposite side of the glass. So, and after you plead guilty every time you see your lawyers, yeah again, you're monitored by a guard and an interpreter there who's writing everything down.
So you don't have attorney-client privilege as well. And as far as the torture, yeah, 17 months in solitary confinement. One ? two showers in six-and-a-half-month period of time. There's no heat. You get frostbite daily, no air conditioning or ventilation during the summer. People are passing out from, you know, heatstroke. So yeah, I would say, and according to the United Nations, that's clearly torture and violation of human rights.
And how is your son doing now?
He's doing fantastic. He's got his health back. He's young. He is vibrant, so he's doing quite well. Thank you.
Well, if what you're saying is true, your country, the United States, must have come to the rescue. Did the US government help in any way?
No, the US government did not help. They helped the Japanese. You know, there's some rumors going on that, you know, I hope that some good investigative journalists somewhere work on (it). And that is that there was some type of business arrangement made where quid pro quo for Aegis destroyers, Aegis radars for Japan, which we found interesting.
I don't know if it's true or not, but we would love to see somebody investigate that to see if it was a quid pro quo and that, you know: You purchase these Aegis radars from us, we'll look favorably upon an extradition request.? It's just amazing that we get extradited for what legal scholars say is not a violation of law whatsoever.
Yet three Japanese citizens from Takata airbag (Tokyo-based Takata Corp. is a company found guilty of manufacturing defective auto airbags) who's now responsible for the death of 29 human beings, don't get extradited when they're indicted in federal court in Michigan back in December of 2016. Where's that logic? Would you consider you and your son collateral damage? How does that make you feel? Especially that you were also incarcerated when you arrived back in the US? Well, anytime you're collateral damage, yeah, you feel like your country betrayed you.
Would you consider you and your son collateral damage? How does that make you feel? Especially that you were also incarcerated when you arrived back in the US?
Well, anytime you're collateral damage, yeah, you feel like your country betrayed you. And they did. And you know, you know that old saying, karma's a ? Well, I understand Trump just got indicted again in Georgia.
Clearly, you seem, you went through a lot. Was the money worth it? How much did Carlos Ghosn pay you? I have heard something between $3 (million) to $5 million. Is that true? And did you get the full amount?
Well, I'm not gonna go into any conversations about finances, but I could tell you my legal fees are still outstanding and they're very high.
Anytime you're dealing with legal fees on both sides of an ocean like that, both the United States and in Japan, your legal fees end up, you know, tallying up quite high. And I had some wonderful lawyers on both sides. You know, I had Dan Marino, Tillman Finley, Abbe Lowell, Paul Kelly, Ty Cobb. And Ty Cobb, former general counsel in the White House, didn't even charge a dime for his time and his service, trying to help prevent this from happening.
And, you know, one of the main things is that, one of the motions they filed in federal court in Boston, was that no American should be extradited to Japan because there will be torture. Judge (Indira) Talwani, the judge requested that the State Department provide her with a sworn affidavit saying that we will not be tortured.
And of course, they play with the diplomatic language saying: ?It's more likely than not, they won't be tortured.? They know very well there's gonna be torture because on the State Department's own website, they publish documents saying that, you know, in the prisons, people were getting frostbite because there's no heat.
Mr. Ghosn, if he was here, would say that he settled the amount as per written agreement with your son. Do you dispute that?
Again, I don't comment on anything like that, and I don't know that he would say such a thing.
So what's next? Will you be suing him? How will you get the money you think you are owed?
Again, it's the financial issues that we don't discuss in a public domain.
So clearly you think Carlos did you wrong, but what are your views on his whole lawsuit with Nissan? Was he a villain or a victim?
You know, that's not for me to say. You know, my whole involvement with this was, and as it was presented to me, that there's a man over there being tortured, and to the point where he can't even, according to the court, talk to his wife.
Tell us about the upcoming Apple TV documentary and how it's different than the one which appeared on Netflix and MBC Shahid.
Well, the Apple documentary's coming out and I understand it's gonna be a four-part series and it will be aired on Aug. 25th, so very shortly.
What is next for you?
Well, next I'm working on my company, which is Vitamin One. It's a healthy hydration drink full of vitamins and electrolytes and no sugar.
