Remember the infamous Crackhouse Comedy Club routine which caused a stir last year? Well, after the open micer was fined by the court for the action, the comedy club owner also faced a similar punishment recently, though for a separate viral stand-up routine video.
As reported by BERNAMA, Crackhouse Comedy Club owner Mohamad Rizal Van Geyzel was yesterday fined RM8,000 by the Sessions Court for “making and initiating the transmission of offensive communications that touched on racial sensitivity through the Facebook application” last year. He has since paid the fine.
Judge N.Priscilla Hemamalini meted out the fine after Mohamad Rizal pleaded guilty to the first of the 3 charges made against him.
While deputy public prosecutor Nurul’Ain Abu Bakar informed the court that the Attorney-General’s Chambers Office (AGC) had received the 3rd representation filed by Mohamad Rizal on 7 June, the prosecution agreed to accept the representation for Rizal to plead guilty to the 1st charge made against him and the 2 other charges being considered “take into consideration (TIC)” under Section 171A of the Criminal Procedure Code.
On the first charge, Mohamad Rizal, 40 was charged with making and initiating the transmission of offensive communications with intent to offend others via the Facebook application using the profile name ‘Rizal van Geyzel’ on 4 July 2022.
The posting was read at the Cyber Crime and Multimedia Investigation Division Office, Commercial Crime Investigation Department, Menara KPJ here at 1.17 pm on 13 July last year.
The charge, framed under Section 233(1) (a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and punishable under Section 233 (3) of the same act, provides a maximum fine of RM50,000 or imprisonment not exceeding one year or both and shall be further fined RM1,000 for every day that the offence is repeated after conviction if convicted.
For the two other charges, he was alleged to have made and initiated the transmission of offensive communications with intent to offend others via the Instagram ‘rizalvangeyzel’ and TikTok ‘rizalvangeyzel’ on 5 and 6 July 2022 and the postings were read at the same place, time and date.
Mohamad Rizal’s lawyer M. Pravin in his mitigation, said that his client has 3 children, including a child with disabilities, to support. Mohamad Rizal also has a 74-year-old father suffering from chronic heart disease and has to bear the cost of his father’s treatment.
Furthermore, following this incident, the accused lost his main source of income as a ‘stand-up comedy’ and is now divorced. Pravin said that his client regretted his action and promised to not repeat the same mistakes.
So, what do you guys think of the case? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Also read: Viral Open Micer at Crackhouse Comedy Club Fined RM8K, Pleads Guilty to Hurting Others’ Feelings
