KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — Crackhouse Comedy Club owner Mohamad Rizal Van Geyzel was fined RM8,000 today by the Sessions Court today for initiating the transmission of offensive communications that touched on racial sensitivities through Facebook last year.
Judge N. Priscilla Hemamalini meted out the fine after Rizal pleaded guilty to the first of the three charges against him.
This was after deputy public prosecutor Nurul Ain Abu Bakar informed the court the Attorney-General’s Chambers had received the third representation filed by Rizal on June 7.
“The prosecution agreed to accept the representation for the person being sued (Rizal) to plead guilty to the first charge made against him.
“However, the two other charges facing him are considered ‘take into consideration (TIC) 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 “Rizal van Geyzel” on July 4, 2022.
The post was read at the Cyber Crime 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 with a further fine of RM1,000 for every day 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 account “rizalvangeyzel” and TikTok account “rizalvangeyzel” on July 5 and 6, 2022, respectively, and the posts were read at the same place, time and date.
Earlier, another deputy public prosecutor, Noor Haslinda Che Seman, requested that the court impose a hefty fine considering the offence committed by Rizal was serious enough to incite public anger.
“The guilty plea by the person sued does not automatically qualify him for a lesser sentence, because the sentence to be handed down by this court will serve as a lesson not only to the person sued, but also to the general public so 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 person sued has a 74-year-old father suffering from chronic heart disease and (Rizal) has to bear the cost of (his father’s) treatment. Following this incident, the person sued 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 years. The person sued regrets his action and promises not to repeat the same mistakes,” said the lawyer.
— Bernama
