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KUALA LUMPUR – The high court here today set April 6 next year to hear an appeal by the prosecution to set aside a decision by the magistrates’ court here to acquit singer Jason Lo on a charge of self-administration of drugs.
Lawyer Datuk Hariharan Tara Singh, representing Lo – whose real name is Jason Jonathan Lo – said the court set the date during case management before senior assistant registrar Nur Azizah Jaafar today.
“The hearing of the application will take place physically at 9am before judge Datuk Noorin Badaruddin. The appellant (prosecution) and the respondent (Lo) are required to file their written submissions by March 24 and April 3, 2023, respectively,” he said when contacted by reporters.
Today’s proceedings were also attended by deputy public prosecutor Afiq Nazrin Zaharinan and lawyer Effa Azuin Aidrul Hisham, who is also representing Lo.
Last June 24, magistrate Mohamad Fared Abdul Latif acquitted and discharged Lo, who is also a businessman, on a charge of self-administration of drugs after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against him at the end of the prosecution case.
According to the charge, Lo, 47, was alleged to have self-administered amphetamine and methamphetamine into his body in the toilet of the Narcotics office of the Brickfields District Police Headquarters in Jalan Travers, Brickfields at 5.15pm on November 15, 2019.
The charge was framed under Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and punishable under Section 15(1) of the same law, which provides a maximum fine of RM5,000 or imprisonment for up to two years and mandatory supervision by a rehabilitation officer for up to three years, if convicted. – Bernama, November 9, 2022