The Daily Cartoonist

Industry news for the professional cartoonist

Malaysian editorial cartoonist arrested for sedition

Alan Gardner51 mins

Malaysian editorial cartoonist Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque, better known as Zunar, has arrested arrested under the Sedition act hours before his book was to be released.

Police seized 70 copies of his book, “Cartoon-O-Phobia”. In an interview with AFP, while in police custody, Zunar said, “police came and raided my office in the afternoon… now they said I am arrested under the Sedition Act. They say my new book is seditious. Certainly this is intimidation of cartoonists.”

Acccording to the AFP, Zunar “launched a legal battle against the government in a bid to lift a ban on two earlier comic books which authorities said threatened public order”

5 thoughts on “Malaysian editorial cartoonist arrested for sedition”

  1. Zunar is in peril. Malaysia is an authoritarian state that does not tolerate dissent.

    Seems like an obvious case where the Cartoonists Rights Network should send a representative to Malaysia.

  2. Malaysia is a member of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations… Which goes to show that the UN is incapable of enforcing anything on any nation.

    Isn’t this similar to Molly Norris’s situation? Zunar is now suffering because he lit a match where fire is outlawed…

  3. For that matter, the United States isn’t just a UN member but on the Security Council and its founding member. And the U.S. is responsible for far more human rights abuses than Malaysia. But I digress.

    The difference between Molly and Zunar is that Zunar isn’t running. He made his statement, he’s standing by it, and he’s willing to pay the price for it. Now it’s up to us to support him.

  4. Another difference is that Molly’s own country wouldn’t jail her for her speech… Of course, if Molly had started her activities in any random Muslim-ordered country, I’m pretty sure she’d be long dead by now… Whether by government hands or a pitchfork and torch wielding mob is debatable.

  5. Lee being fined for the costs of the city to pick up all the copies of the paper reminds me of Arifur Rahman in Bangladesh being jailed for disturbing the peace when rioters demanded his death for the Mohammad Cat cartoon in 2006. Those Mullahs who led the march weren’t charged, were they.

Comments are closed.

Top