KUALA LUMPUR – Local celebrity Jason Jonathan Lo is suing Bernama over alleged defamatory statements contained in their news reports made in November 2019 and September last year.
In his statement of claim sighted by The Vibes, Lo who was formerly Tune Talk’s chief executive officer, pointed towards two articles titled “Jason Lo charged with trespassing, injecting drugs into body” and “Court charges singer Jason Lo & colleague with CBT of RM200,000”.
In the first article, Bernama mentioned in its report how the plaintiff was accused of trespassing in a house and self-administering drugs.
Additionally, Bernama was accused of stating that Lo was alleged to have injected methamphetamine into his body.
Lo contends that the article will make readers understand that he is a housebreaker, trespasser, thief, drug addict, and criminal, among other things.
“The allegations in the November 18 article are baseless, provocative, unnecessary, and form character assassination against the plaintiff.
“The November 18 article used a graphic description of injecting drugs, which implies the very visual and extreme stigma of using any tools as pleaded for the purpose of injecting drugs into the plaintiff’s body,” the statement read.
Lo also asserted that Bernama intentionally omitted material facts by mentioning trespassing, but made no mention that it was a matrimonial home belonging to the plaintiff.
The statement of claim also mentioned that the magistrate’s court had acquitted the plaintiff over charges of trespassing.
As for the article titled “Court charges singer Jason Lo & colleague with CBT of RM200,000”, Bernama had reported in September last year 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 report was completely unfounded, misleading, sensationalised, and/or tantamount to sub judice.
“The September 1 article stated that the plaintiff ostensibly confessed to a criminal charge, touched on particulars that are the subject matter of ongoing proceedings, failed to verify the accuracy and veracity of such information, and failed to adhere to journalism ethics and integrity,” the statement of claim read.
Lo also put forth the fact that on February 3, the sessions court discharged him from the criminal breach of trust offence.
“The defendant’s conduct in publishing and/or causing to publish and/or causing to republish the November 18 article and the September 1 article are motivated by malice and/or bad faith against the plaintiff, and are calculated to cause damage to the plaintiff’s reputation," the statement of claim read.
Due to the alleged defamation, Lo, among other things, claimed that the reports filed by Bernama have caused him distress and harmed his ability to earn a living.
“As such the plaintiff has suffered loss and damages, significant personal harm, including to his business and professional endeavours and prospects, career, finances, as well as public appearances to the tune of approximately RM18 million.”
Lo is claiming damages, a public apology, retraction of the articles, as well as an injunction to prevent the national news agency from further publishing content about him. – The Vibes, August 25, 2021
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