KUALA LUMPUR – The Crackhouse Comedy Club here has been vandalised with splashes of red paint days after police said they are investigating co-founder Rizal van Geyzel for sedition, among others.
The club, which is on the second floor of a row of shophouses in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, saw its signboard and ground floor entrance vandalised with paint. Paint residue can also be seen on the road in front of the building.
Meanwhile, posters that lined the walls of the stairs leading up to the club are also vandalised.
Parts of the Hong Leong Bank outlet on the ground floor next door were also splashed with black paint. A bank employee told The Vibes that police had come by the area in the morning.
Rizal, 39, is being investigated under the Sedition Act 1948 and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
In a statement issued by federal police secretary Datuk Noorsiah Mohd Saaduddin, police said the arrest on July 14 was to assist investigations into two videos purportedly taken at a comedy club.
She added that investigation papers will be submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers for further action.
Two video clips showing a man performing a stand-up comedy at a club recently went viral on social media.
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 Johor chairman Tazul Arifin Nasri had filed police reports against Rizal at the district police headquarters of south Johor Baru and Shah Alam.
The Semboyan Malaysia Consumers Association had also taken their grouses to the Brickfields district police headquarters, 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 was 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, pleaded not guilty against charges of inciting religious disharmony during her stunt.
It is learnt that she will be re-arrested and charged under Section 7 of the Shariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997, relating to insulting, or bringing into contempt, etc. the religion of Islam. – The Vibes, July 19, 2022
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