The Crackhouse Comedy Club co-founder pleaded not guilty after the charges were read to him before judge Nor Hasniah Abdul Razak.

He was released on bail of RM12,000 in one surety. He was also asked to surrender his passport.

Rizal, 39, was charged under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. He faces a maximum one-year prison sentence, a RM50,000 fine, or both for each charge if found guilty.

Clad in a white shirt and light blue slacks, he appeared calm but lowered his head when the charges were read to him.

According to the charge sheet, Rizal uploaded a video on his Facebook page “Rizal van Gyzel” with the intention to insult other people at about 11.23pm on July 4.

The second and third charges stated that he uploaded the same video on his Instagram page “rizalvangeyzel” on July 6, and on his TikTok page with the same name, on July 5.

Rizal’s lawyer, Ramkarpal Singh, requested bail of RM6,000 as he said the accused is his family’s sole breadwinner and has three children aged between three and 11, one of whom has dyslexia.

He said Rizal also takes care of his 74-year-old father and helps to pay the cost of his cancer treatment.

The court set Aug 19 for mention.

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