PROMINENT preacher Ebit Lew was ordered to enter his defence by the Magistrate's Court today, on charges involving sexual harassment of a woman about five years ago.
Magistrate Nur Asyraf Zolhani ruled this after finding that the prosecution had succeeded in proving a prima facie case at the end of its case against Ebit Lew, whose real name is Ebit Irawan Ibrahim, aged 41.
"The court is of the opinion that the prosecution has succeeded in proving a prima facie case against the accused for all 11 charges, where all elements of the charge under Section 509 of the Penal Code have been proven.
"The evidence at the end of the prosecution case is sufficient for a conviction to be recorded against you on the 11 charges if it is not refuted or challenged by the defence evidence," the judge said when reading out the decision.
Nur Asyraf said that the accused has the option of calling witnesses on his behalf in his defence.
Meanwhile, lawyer Datuk Ram Singh, representing Ebit Lew, announced that his party would call seven to 10 defence witnesses in the trial.
Before that, the court also set the next trial dates for him to defend himself, which are October 13 to 16, November 11 to 13 and 24 to 27, and December 1 to 4 this year.
In the trial, Ebit Lew faced 11 charges of sending obscene pictures and words intended to humiliate the victim's modesty via the WhatsApp application between March and June 2021, according to Section 509 of the Penal Code.
Deputy Public Prosecutors, Nor Azizah Mohamad, Analia Kamaruddin and Muhammad Hidayat Wahab prosecuted. – April 30, 2026
