[UPDATED] Police detain Crackhouse co-founder Rizal van Geyzel for 24 hours

KUALA LUMPUR – Crackhouse Comedy Club co-founder Rizal Van Geyzel has been detained for 24 hours by police for questioning over three videos that went viral, said a source.

He is being detained at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters overnight before being presented to court for remand at 10am tomorrow.

The source added that police are taking Rizal to his house to get the clothes he wore in one of the videos. 

It is learned that Rizal is possibly being investigated under a number of laws, including Section 298A of the Penal Code, which relates to deliberately causing disunity, ill will, or hatred on the grounds of religion and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998, which covers the misuse of communications networks. 

The Vibes has reached out to lawyer Ramkarpal Singh, who is believed to be representing the local comedian.

It was previously reported that Bersatu Associate Wing information chief S. Gobi Krishnan had lodged a police report against Rizal for allegedly insulting Malays in a viral video where he had spoken in Tamil. 

Similarly, Persatuan Kebajikan Islam dan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Pekida) Johor chairman Tazul Arifin Nasri had yesterday filed police reports against Rizal at the district police headquarters of south Johor Baru and Shah Alam. 

Semboyan Malaysia Consumers Association had also taken their grouses to the Brickfields district police headquarters yesterday, with its chairman Yusuf Azmi asserting that members will hold a protest on the comedy club’s premises if authorities do not permanently shut down the business. 

Recently, the comedy club has been embroiled in controversy following a viral video of a woman claiming to be a Muslim and to have memorised 15 chapters (juzuk) of the Quran before stripping off her headscarf and baju kurung during an open mic comedy skit at the club on June 4. 

Siti Nuramira Abdullah, 26, yesterday pleaded not guilty against charges of inciting religious disharmony during her stunt, with judge Siti Amirah Ghazali setting bail at RM20,000 with one surety and August 18 for mention.

Her partner, Alexander Navin Vijayachandran, 38, also maintained his innocence against two charges under Section 233(1)(a) of the CMA 1998 for uploading insensitive materials to online platforms and is facing a RM20,000 bail in total. 

Rizal had earlier admitted to The Vibes that his team was, at first, thrilled to see a Malay woman in a headscarf wanting to participate in the event.

However, the night soon went from comedy to nightmare as he asserted that staff and audience members were shocked and gobsmacked by the woman's disrobing stunt.

He added that the club had subsequently lodged a police report at the Taman Tun Dr Ismail police station against the woman, noting that she and her partner had been barred from the venue immediately after the performance.

Her act eventually led to the Crackhouse Comedy Club’s operating licence being temporarily suspended by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, a move which has been criticised by some of the biggest names in Malaysian comedy and similar venues.

Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias also said that DBKL will issue a show-cause letter to the comedy club as it was running with only a restaurant licence, and not one needed for entertainment. – The Vibes, July 14, 2022