KUALA LUMPUR (May 30): Local musician celebrity Jason Jonathan Lo lost his defamation suit against Bernama over the national news agency's reporting of his drug and criminal breach of trust (CBT) charges in 2019 and 2020.

High Court Judicial Commissioner Datuk Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan also ordered Lo to pay RM15,000 in costs to Bernama on Tuesday (May 30).

Lo, who was formerly the chief executive officer of Tune Talk Sdn Bhd, was suing the news agency for two articles it wrote about him titled “Jason Lo charged with trespassing, injecting drugs into body” and “Court charges singer Jason Lo & colleague with CBT of RM200,000”.

Lo said the news agency mentioned in the first article how he was accused of trespassing at a house and self-administering drugs.

Bernama also stated that he was alleged to have injected methamphetamine into his body.

Lo contended that the article will make readers think he is a housebreaker, trespasser, thief, drug addict and criminal, among other things.

Raja Ahmad, in his written judgement, stated that the articles have to be read as a whole for the court to determine if they were defamatory or libellous. He said that the contents must be taken as a whole.

"In regard to the first impugned article, reading it as a whole would lead to the conclusion that the plaintiff was charged separately in two different Magistrates' Courts with the offences of trespassing and injecting drugs. Therefore, based on the first impugned article read in its entirety, the plaintiff did not appear to have trespassed into a house solely for the purpose of injecting drugs. 

"Regarding the use of the phrase 'injecting drug into body' as opposed to consuming or self-administering drugs, it is important to note that the first impugned article was only designed to inform the public that the plaintiff had been charged with a drug offence under Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. The plaintiff suggests there was malice, but the court does not see any evidence of it before the court. In fact, it is clear from the first impugned article that the plaintiff had pleaded not guilty to those charges and had been released on bail.

Raja Ahmad then addressed the second article, which was titled “Court charges singer Jason Lo & colleague with CBT of RM200,000”.

Bernama reported in September 2020 that Lo and another person were involved in fraud over money belonging to a recording company. It was also mentioned in the article that the money was used for personal gain.

Lo contended that said the report was completely unfounded, misleading, sensationalised, and/or tantamount to sub judice. He claimed that the Bernama report stated that he had “ostensibly confessed to a criminal charge”.

"On the second impugned article, the court finds that after reading the entire article, it appears from the very beginning that the plaintiff pleaded not guilty to the charge. The second impugned article stated clearly that the plaintiff was accused of committing a breach of trust, but no assignment of guilt was made on him. Furthermore, the second impugned article specifically stated that the plaintiff had been released on RM30,000 bail. Reasonable readers would not conclude that the plaintiff admitted to the offence."

Raja Ahmad then awarded costs of RM15,000 to Bernama. 

In 2022, Lo was acquitted of the drug charge in the Magistrates Court, and in April this year had the decision upheld in the High Court upon an appeal from the prosecution.

As for the CBT charge, Lo claimed in his statement of claim against Bernama that the Sessions Court discharged him from the offence on Feb 3, 2021.

Lo was present for the decision in the High Court here with family members.

This story has been updated with the written judgement of the case.