KUALA LUMPUR: Crackhouse Comedy Club owner Mohammad Rizal Johan Van Geyzel was charged in the Sessions Court today with three counts of posting insulting remarks touching on religious and racial sensitivities.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges that were read to him before Sessions Court Judge Nor Hasniah Ab Razak.
Mohammad Rizal was charged under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which carries a maximum one-year imprisonment or RM50,000 fine or both upon conviction.
The 39-year-old comedian was accused of uploading a video on three different social media platforms that touched on racial and religious sensitivities between July 4 and 6.
Mohammad Rizal, clad in a white shirt, nodded in understanding when the court interpreter read out his charges together with the contents of the videos in question.
In the video, he was accused of saying that being born to a Malay-Turkish mother and a Dutch-Chinese father made him a Bumiputra; and that having the right amount of 'Malay' in a person is enough to get funded.
He was also accused of saying that the Chinese communities love such jokes, towards the end of the video.
Deputy public prosecutor Noor Haslinda Che Seman and Nurul 'Ain Abu Bakar when prosecuted offered no bail to the accused.
"This is a non-bailable offence.
"However, if the court want to offer bail, the prosecution suggests in the range of RM30,000 to reflect the seriousness of the charges, against the accused," she said.
Mohammad Rizal's counsel Ramkarpal Singh when pleading for minimum bail disputed the amount on the account that it was too high for the accused.
Ramkarpal said his client was supporting three children and a father diagnosed with cancer.
"Rizal has been cooperating well with the court," he said.
He then pleaded for the bail to be ordered at RM6,000, for all three charges.
Judge Nor Hasniah moved to set the bail at RM12,000 with one surety and issued a gag order related to the case on Mohammad Rizal.
The court also fixed Aug 19 for mention.