Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn has been detained in Tokyo since his shock November 19 arrest, and faces three charges of financial misconduct in a spectacular fall from grace.

Here are extracts from an interview Thursday with AFP and France's Les Echos daily, his first with foreign media since his arrest.

Ongoing detention 'not normal' 

"I have been denied bail. It would not be normal in any other democracy of the world."

"Why I am being punished before being found guilty? Obviously I am at a huge disadvantage."

"I have in front of me an army at Nissan, more than hundreds of people are dedicated to the case, 70 people at the prosecutors' office, and I am being left in prison for more than 70 days."

"No phone, no computer, but how can I defend myself?"

'Army of people throwing trash' 

"I have an army of people throwing trash at me every day.

There are not only allegations of the prosecutors, but also those of Nissan. They take a lot of facts out of their context. It is a distortion of reality to destroy my reputation."

"At Nissan, the people at the heart of the accusations are now inside the investigation. They were super insiders in the legal affairs, there are many people whose role is questionable, strange. 

It's very surprising... I am being denied any right to defend myself. I am talking about fairness."

 Detention is 'very hard'

"Let's not underestimate the conditions that I am in. 

When I sleep at night, I have a light all the time. I have no watch, no sense of time. I have only 30 minutes to go outside on the roof. I am craving for fresh air. Yes I am strong but obviously, I am tired."

"I can't speak to my family. Since November 19, I could not even call my wife Carole, my children. My oldest daughter turned 29 years old and I could not wish her happy birthday. It's the first time. This is very hard."

'A story of betrayal' 

"Is it a trap? Is it a plot? It's obvious: it's a story of betrayal. There is no question about this, and there are many reasons for this. There was opposition and anxiety on the project of bringing the two companies together."

"I said, if I go for another mandate (as the head of the alliance), we have to work much more on integration.

"The goal was clear, and there was a resistance from the beginning but what are the options to ensure stability of the alliance?"

"I wasn't expecting this, but it led to the plot."

"The scenario was to create a holding company that would control the three operational entities and would hold all the shares, while preserving autonomy of each group."

 'Not one yen!' 

"I am accused of under-reporting income I never received! There is not one yen that I have received that was not reported."

 'I love Japan, I love Nissan' 

"I love Japan, I love Nissan, I have dedicated so many years to revive the company, to rebuild it again, to turn it into a powerhouse. I have nothing against the company."

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