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Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has lashed out at ex-colleagues as he faces allegations of financial misconduct - accusing them of backstabbing and conspiring against him.

Mr Ghosn claimed some "selfish" executives had "really played a very dirty game" and insisted he was innocent of all charges.

He made the remarks in a video statement recorded after he was released on bail last month - his first public address since he was first arrested last November.

Mr Ghosn announced last week that he was "getting ready to tell the truth" at a news conference on Thursday, but was subsequently re-arrested and has since remained behind bars.

Instead, his lawyers released the video, lasting nearly eight minutes, and published it on social media.

Speaking in English, Mr Ghosn said: "If you are listening to me through this video today, it means that I was not able to make the press conference that I planned for 11 April, but I wanted to tell you the essence of the message that I wanted to develop on 11 April."

He hit out at "biased" characterisations of him that he said painted a picture of "greed" and "dictatorship".

Mr Ghosn emphasised that his love for Japan and Nissan, 20 years after joining the company, was "untainted" by his recent ordeal.

"This is a conspiracy," he said.

"This not about greed, this is not about dictatorship, this is about a plot, this is about a conspiracy, this is about backstabbing."

He said the conspiracy was borne out of fear that he would bring Nissan closer in its global alliance with French car maker Renault.

Mr Ghosn said there was a "fear that the next step of the alliance in terms of convergence and in terms of moving towards a merger, would in a certain way threaten some people or eventually threaten the autonomy of Nissan".

He said he had been the "fiercest defender of the autonomy of Nissan" but that a few executives "for their own interest and for their own selfish fears are creating a lot of value destruction".

Mr Ghosn's lawyer Junichiro Hironaka said that he had called out some individuals by name in the video, but those references were removed due to legal concerns.

Mr Hironaka said Mr Ghosn's wife Carole, who left Japan last week, did so out of concern for her own safety, adding that she intended to protest about the case to the French government.

The lawyer has previously criticised the move by prosecutors to confiscate Mr Ghosn's belongings, including his mobile phones and trial documents, as well as items belonging to his wife.

France's finance minister Bruno le Maire said on Tuesday that political interventions might not be the best way to help him.

The statement from Mr Ghosn came a day after shareholders agreed to oust him from the board severing ties after two decades.

Mr Ghosn has been accused of failing to report $82m in Nissan pay as well as transferring personal investment losses to the company and steering $14.7m of funds to a Saudi businessman.

His most recent arrest relates to $5m (£3.8m) in funds said to have been funnelled from a Nissan subsidiary via an overseas dealership to a separate company that he controlled.