“I knew it!” was the reaction of a senior Nissan executive cited in the Japanese press upon learning of his former boss’s escape to Lebanon to avoid trial in Tokyo.

“This is how he proves his innocence? By fleeing abroad?” added the Nissan official quoted in the Asahi Shimbun. “It should be out of the question to grant bail to suspects who deny the accusations against them.”

A senior prosecutor told the Mainichi Shimbun: “This is what we had predicted” when arguing Ghosn should remain in custody, bemoaning the fact their painstaking evidence gathering was now moot.

There were also calls in the media to tighten bail procedures in the wake of the tycoon’s escape, which many papers said made a “mockery” of Japan‘s justice system.