CRACKHOUSE Comedy Club owner Rizal Van Geyzel has not received any notice or official letter from Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) regarding his blacklisting, his lawyers said today.

“My client has never received a notice that he is blacklisted for life from registering a business in the capital.

“Also, we have had no notice from DBKL about cancelling the club’s business licence,” a statement from Messrs Karpal Singh & Co said.

The statement added that the mayor should send notice within the next 48 hours.

“If notice is not received, we will initiate legal action against the mayor to seek relief from the High Court.”

Yesterday Deputy Federal Territories Minister Jalaluddin Alias said Rizal was blacklisted for life from applying for a business licence in Kuala Lumpur.

“DBKL’s licensing committee decided to revoke the comedy club’s licence effective July 30,” Jalaluddin added.

“This means that the owner of the club cannot register any business activity in Kuala Lumpur, even using a different name and company,” he told Berita Harian

Rizal – who went viral for his controversial stand-up routines, for which was accused of inflamed religious and racial sentiments – was hit with three charges last month.

The 39-year-old co-owner of the Crackhouse Comedy Club in Taman Tun Dr Ismail was later released on bail of RM12,000. He had to surrender his passport to the court, with a gag order on his social media.

His next court date will be on August 19.

Earlier in July, Crackhouse Comedy Club was ordered to close temporarily by DBKL, following a controversial incident when a woman performing during an open mic session removed her outer clothing and hijab to reveal a mini skirt and a spaghetti-strap top.

Jalaluddin said the decision to close the club was to send a message that the ministry and DBKL would not tolerate any behaviour disrespecting the sensitivities of religion, race or sovereignty.

It was later revealed that the woman and her boyfriend targeted Merdekarya before ending up in Crackhouse Comedy Club.

The woman, Siti Nuramira Abdullah, later pleaded not guilty to causing disharmony among the Muslim community.

Her boyfriend, Alexander Navin Vijayachandran, was also charged for uploading insulting content on social media.

The pair were released on bail after a sum of RM40,000 was raised through crowdfunding organised by legal rights group Lawyers for Liberty. – August 18, 2022.