Jermaine Jackson plotted escape for Michael during 2005 trial

Michael Jackson's brother Jermaine secretly arranged to fly the star out of the U.S. to Bahrain if he was found guilty of child molestation charges during a 2005 court case - as he feared his sibling "wouldn't survive" jail.

The Thriller legend was accused of child molestation in 2003 in relation to teenager Gavin Arvizo. He was charged with seven counts of child sexual abuse and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in order to commit alleged felonies against Arvizo.

The singer pleaded not guilty and so the case went to trial. It lasted five months, and Jermaine has now opened up about the difficulties the Jackson family faced during that time.

Jermaine reveals he wanted Michael to escape America if he was sentenced to jail and had even lined up a private jet to fly him to Bahrain.

In his new book, You Are Not Alone: Michael Through A Brother's Eyes, he explains, "I grab the hotel phone and make a call. The person on the other end of the line provides the reassurance that I needed to hear one more time. Yes, the private jet is still available. Yes, it can be at Van Nuys airport. Yes, everything has been arranged.

"All that is required is a day's notice, and this DC8 will have Michael heading east - to Bahrain - to start a new life away from the scam of American justice.

"After this charade, I'm happy to disown my citizenship and take Michael, and his family, to a place where they can't touch him... We have the backer - a dear friend. We have the pilot. Everything is prepared. There is no way my brother - an innocent man - is going to jail for this, He wouldn't survive, and I cannot sit back and even contemplate the possibility, let alone the reality."

The book has been serialised in Britain's The Times and Jermaine tells the publication, "If they were going to sit and crucify my brother for something that he didn't do, America deserves us not to come back here.

"At the end of the day, this is supposed to be the land of the brave, home of the free, democracy, freedom of speech. The way they were treating him, none of that existed. Why should he go to jail for something he didn't do?"

Michael Jackson was cleared of all charges at his 2005 trial.