Crackhouse’s Rizal gets fine for offensive Facebook posts

KUALA LUMPUR – Crackhouse comedy club owner Mohamad Rizal Van Geyzel was today fined RM8,000 by the sessions court here for making and initiating the transmission of offensive communications that touched on racial sensitivity through Facebook last year.

Judge N. Priscilla Hemamalini meted out the fine after Rizal pleaded guilty to the first of the three charges made against him.

This was after deputy public prosecutor Nurul’Ain Abu Bakar informed the court that the Attorney-General’s Chambers Office had received the third representation filed by Rizal last June 7.

“The prosecution agreed to accept the representation for the person being sued – (the accused, Rizal) to plead guilty to the first charge made against him.

“However, the two other charges facing Rizal are considered ‘take into consideration’ under Section 171A of the Criminal Procedure Code,” said Nurul’Ain.

Rizal paid the fine.

On the first charge, Rizal, 40 was charged with making and initiating the transmission of offensive communications with intent to offend others via Facebook using the profile name “Rizal van Geyzel” on July 4, 2022.

The posting was read at the cybercrime and multimedia investigation division office, commercial crime investigation department, Menara KPJ here at 1.17pm on July 13 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 profile “rizalvangeyzel” and TikTok profile “rizalvangeyzel” on July 5 and 6, 2022, respectively and the postings were read at the same place, time, and date.

Earlier, another deputy public prosecutor handling the case, Noor Haslinda Che Seman, requested the court to impose a hefty fine considering that the offence committed was serious enough that it caused public anger.

“The guilty plea by (the accused) does not automatically allow him to be given a lower sentence because the sentence to be handed down by this court will serve as a lesson not only to the accused but also to the general public so that they do not commit a similar offence,” she said.

Lawyer M. Pravin, representing Rizal, in his mitigation, said his client has three children, including a child with disabilities, to support.

“The accused has a 74-year-old father suffering from chronic heart disease and has to bear the cost of his (father’s) treatment. Following this incident, the acccused has lost its main source of income as a ‘stand-up comedian’.

“He is now divorced from his wife and takes care of three children, aged between three and 11. The accused regretted his action and promised to not repeat the same mistakes,” said the lawyer. – Bernama, July 7, 2023