Jaycee Chan
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese prosecutors on Monday indicted the son of Hong Kong action film star Jackie Chan on the charge of sheltering others to use drugs, more than four months after he was detained.
If convicted, singer-actor Jaycee Chan could be jailed for up to three years.
Chan, 32, was among a string of celebrities detained over the summer for vices such as drug use and hiring prostitutes, as Beijing vowed to clean up social morals.
Chan’s case has been particularly embarrassing for his more famous father, who was named by Beijing as an anti-drug ambassador in 2009.
Beijing police detained the younger Chan at his Beijing apartment in August along with Taiwanese movie star Ko Kai. Police said Chan and Ko both tested positive for marijuana and admitted using the drug, and that 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of it were taken from Chan’s home.
Ko, whose real name is Ko Chen-tung, was released after a 14-day administrative detention for the drug use, but Chan — who has remained in detention since August — is faced with the more serious criminal charge.
State broadcaster CCTV in August aired video of the police raid on Chan’s apartment, in which Chan was shown identifying marijuana. Ko testified on camera that he had used drugs at Chan’s home.
Chan has never publicly contested the charge, and his father has openly apologized over his detention.
“Regarding this issue with my son Jaycee, I feel very angry and very shocked,” Jackie Chan wrote on his microblog in August. “As a public figure, I’m very ashamed. As a father, I’m heartbroken.”
Prosecutors from Beijing’s Dongcheng District announced the indictment in a one-line statement that did not mention when a trial would be held.
In June, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that illegal drugs should be wiped out and that offenders should be severely punished. The crackdown snared more than 7,800 people in Beijing alone, according to police, and celebrities were targeted because of their influence over the public.
Jaycee Chan has appeared in several films and has released three albums. ■