TOKYO - Japan has been forced onto the defensive after Carlos Ghosn, the auto titan turned international fugitive, unleashed a broadside against its justice system, comparing it to "North Korea, China and Soviet Russia".

Ghosn's flight from justice in Japan on Dec 29 will unlikely be condoned by anyone but some Japanese lawyers, as well as human rights advocates, have long urged a review of such practices as prolonged detention and the absence of lawyers when suspects are questioned.