KUALA LUMPUR – Crackhouse Comedy Club co-founder Rizal van Geyzel 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 confirmed the arrest of a 39-year-old man in the Klang Valley 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.
Although the police statement did not mention names, Rizal was questioned at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters in the afternoon and will be detained overnight to be presented at court tomorrow morning.
Two video clips showing a man performing a stand-up comedy at a club recently went viral on social media.
It was reported earlier today that Rizal was to be detained for 24 hours by police for questioning over three videos that went viral.
He was 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 Johor chairman Tazul Arifin Nasri had yesterday 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 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 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, 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. – The Vibes, July 14, 2022
