ZUNAR THE CARTOONIST ZUNAR IS FACING A RE COUNTS Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, known as “Zunar”, is a political cartoonist whose art has long been featured in online news portal Malaysiakini.com. Zunar has a gift for capturing current events in a single humorous image. He has used his cartoons to expose corruption and the abuse of power. As Zunar is fond of saying, “Neutrality is a form of escapism. Staying silent is not an option. Even my pen has a stand!” Since 2009, Zunar’s cartoon books have often been confiscated or banned from sale, his office and printers raided, and his assistants harassed. Now, Zunar is facing a record nine counts of sedition, one for each tweet he made following a Federal Court ruling on 10 February 2015, which upheld the conviction and five-year prison sentence of former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy. That case is widely seen by human rights groups as politically motivated and Amnesty International considers Anwar Ibrahim to be a prisoner of conscience. The Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar took to Twitter following the court judgment warning that action would ensue if anyone criticized the judiciary over the Anwar Ibrahim ruling. SEDITI ONE FOR TWEET H © Amnesty International When Zunar was charged on 3 April 2015 the prosecutor asked that he post bail of RM5,000 (USD1,130) for each charge. The magistrate set his bail at a reduced amount of RM22,500 (USD5,100) in total which was still a considerable and burdensome amount. His trial is ongoing. If convicted, Zunar faces a long-term prison sentence for his peaceful criticism in the exercise of his right to freedom of expression. The persecution Zunar is facing has drawn international attention and Zunar was selected as a case for Amnesty International’s Write for Rights campaign in 2015. ZUNAR IS FACING A RECORD Zunar was not the only one who took to social media or other forums to criticize the judgment. Several people affiliated with the political opposition have been charged with sedition for the comments they made in the weeks following the judgment, with some of these charges having been brought as recently as November 2015. However, Zunar’s nine counts of sedition for his nine tweets place him far ahead of anyone else currently charged with sedition in Malaysia. 4 Critical Crackdown: Freedom of Expression Under Attack in Malaysia COUNTS OF SEDITION ONE FOR EACH TWEET HE MADE