Comedy club owner slapped with three charges under CMA

 

Crackhouse Comedy Club owner Rizal Van Geyzel, who came under scrutiny recently over videos of his comedic performance, has been slapped with three charges under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA).

Rizal pleaded not guilty to all three charges at the Kuala Lumpur Cyber Crime Court this morning before judge Nor Hasniah Ab Razak.

The first charge was over a video posted to Facebook on July 4, the second over an Instagram post on July 6 and the third over a TikTok video on July 5.

In the video, posted to those three social media platforms, Rizal had allegedly cracked a joke about racial stereotypes.

In the short clip that was circulating online, Rizal joked about Malay stereotypes.

"I am mixed race. My dad is Dutch and Chinese, my mum is Malay and Turkish.

"Do you know what these two mixes make me? Bumiputra. Because it is about having the right amount of Malay in you. Not enough to make you lazy but enough to get you funding," he had said, according to a copy of the charge sheet sighted by Malaysiakini.

Framed under Section 233(3), the charge is for the offence of improper use of network facilities to make an obscene posting with the intent to annoy another person.

If found guilty, Rizal may be fined not exceeding RM50,000, jailed for up to a year, or both. A further fine of RM1,000 may also be imposed for each day the offence is continued after conviction.

The court allowed RM12,000 bail in one surety and set Aug 19 for mention.

Hasniah also ordered Rizal to hand over his passport and not make any social media posts regarding the case.

Deputy public prosecutors Noor Haslinda Che Seman and Nurul Ain Abu Bakar prosecuted while lawyer Ramkarpal Singh represented Rizal.

Crackhouse came under heavy scrutiny recently over controversial performances that touched on Islam, which saw a woman and her boyfriend arrested.

Rizal later landed in hot water too when several old videos of controversial comedy performances started resurfacing. He was arrested by Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department's Classified Investigation Unit on July 14 and remanded.

Several days later, the comedy club in Taman Tun Dr Ismail in Kuala Lumpur was vandalised and Rizal received a death threat sent through his wife. Police believed the two incidents were connected. - Mkini