AS “We are all Carlos Ghosn” billboards pop up in Lebanon, what little public backing the jailed auto executive garnered in France — his other home country — is fading fast.

The head of Renault SA was charged earlier this week in Tokyo for financial crimes and his incarceration extended. Around the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron was unveiling emergency measures aimed at quelling violent street protests.

In the face of the turmoil, the plight of a globe-trotting corporate titan in a Japanese prison has taken a back seat. The yellow vest-wearing demonstrators are decrying wealth disparity, heaping scorn on France’s elite and threatening to continue their movement.

“Carlos Ghosn is in some respects the personification of everything the yellow vests despise,” said Chris Reynolds, a professor of French studies at Notthingham Trent University. “He represents the 1 percent that earns all the money and that is immune to all the sacrifices that are needed to reform the economy.”

While French politics haven’t helped Ghosn, the CEO also lacks empathy from the broader community. The #FreeCarlos Twitter handle failed to gain any traction, and other high-profile business leaders and lobbies have remained mostly mute. Lebanon, where Ghosn spent much of his childhood, has gone to great lengths to lend a hand, even buying him a prison-cell mattress. A large billboard looming over the streets leading to downtown Beirut features his picture and reads: “We are all Carlos Ghosn.”

As Renault’s most powerful shareholder, the French Government has the biggest financial stake in his predicament. Yet Macron has refrained from commenting directly on Ghosn and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire kept remarks to a minimum, stressing Ghosn’s presumption of innocence and demanding proof of his misdeeds.

The executive was arrested Nov. 19 in Japan on charges of under-reporting his compensation at Nissan Motor Co., where he was chairman. The Japanese company has now taken the first comprehensive steps to share details with Renault about allegations against Ghosn, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, a move that may help ease a climate of suspicion that has clouded their partnership. It may also satisfy Le Maire’s demands.

The French Government is walking a fine line as it moves behind-the-scenes to try to protect Renault’s status as top dog within an alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi. (SD-Agencies)