‘Lovebirds’ stand-up comedy participant and boyfriend charged in court
THE long arm of the law has eventually caught up with the woman at the centre of the Crackhouse Comedy Club open mic controversy Siti Nuramira Abdullah and her boyfriend Alexander Navin Vijayachandran, both of whom had pleaded not guilty to their respective charges at two separate Sessions Court in the Klang Valley today.
The duo had over the recent weekend set tongues wagging not only among netizens but also among renowned stand-up comedians in the likes of Harith Iskandar and Douglas Lim who described Siti Nuramira’s act as “insulting but not funny” and “an act of sabotage by an irresponsible person”.
Siti Nuramira, 26, whose ‘strip tease’ which was deemed offensive to Islam pleaded not guilty to a charge of “causing disharmony, disunity or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will, or prejudicing the maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of religion” which is a crime under Section 298A(1)(a) of the Penal Code at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.
The court allowed her RM20,000 bail with one surety pending her next court hearing on August 18. The Kuala Kangsar lass faces a maximum five years imprisonment upon conviction.
She was represented by Datuk Shaharudin Ali, R. Sivaraj and Ramesh MP Chandran with Judge Siti Aminah Ghazali presiding over her case.
Over at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court, Alexander who recorded Siti Nuramira’s act at the club’s Taman Tun Dr Ismail venue was charged under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998 for “improper use of network facilities or network service”.
He was alleged to have committed the offence of uploading videos of Siti Nuramira’s ‘lewd’ performance on YouTube and Twitter on June 5 and 16.
If found guilty, Alexander may be fined up to RM50,000 or jailed for no more than a year. Both offences were said to be committed at a condominium in Damansara Perdana.
During her open mic session, Siti Nuramira had claimed to have memorised half the Quran prior to removing her headscarf and baju kurung to reveal a spaghetti strap top and miniskirt.
Alexander, 38, was represented by lawyers Sivaraj Retinasekharan and Ramesh MP Chandran, who are also representing Siti Nuramira. His case was heard before Judge Azrul Darus who set bail at RM10,000 per offence and fixed September 1 for the next trial date. – FocusM, July 13, 2022
