KUALA LUMPUR: The Crackhouse Comedy Club owner Rizal Van Geyzel has failed to quash his cyber-crime charges in court, today.
The deputy public prosecutor Noor Aslinda Che Seman said in court before Sessions Court Judge Nor Hasniah Ab Razak this morning, that the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) rejected the comedian's representation letter to review the charges, which was submitted on Dec 12 last year.
A letter of representation is normally sent to the AGC by an accused either to reduce or drop the charge.
Following this, Rizal or his real name Mohammad Rizal Johan Van Geyzel's counsel, M. Pravin requested for the court to fix another date for the case re-mention, as he will submit a second representation letter then.
He said the second letter would be submitted for the same reason, which is to drop the charges.
"But new information will be included (in the second representation letter).
"I need two to three weeks to submit the letter, and request for the court to fix a different date for the decision around a month from today," he said.
However, judge Nor Hasniah rejected the lawyer's request, on grounds that the court would not waste any time to start the trial for the case.
"I will fix the trial dates to save the court's time. But you can continue to submit the second representation letter and inform the court when you get the decision later.
"If the second representation is accepted, we will not continue with the trial," she said.
Nor Hasniah then fixed April 6 for re-mention, and set aside seven days for the case trial starting on April 14, May 2 to 3, 22 and 21 as well as June 1 to 2.
Mohammad Rizal is facing three counts of posting insulting remarks touching on religious and racial sensitivities.
The 40-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 was charged under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which carries a maximum of one-year imprisonment or RM50,000 fine or both upon conviction.