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Zunar arrested for breach of peace, sedition

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This is the tenth time cartoonist Zunar has been arrested for sedition, lawyer says.

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GEORGE TOWN:
Cartoonist Zunar has been arrested for breaching the peace under the Penal Code and the Sedition Act, his lawyer R S N Rayer said.

Rayer said police will likely apply for a remand order tomorrow.

“I cannot say anything else at the moment. All I can say is that Zunar is arrested and police are processing his papers as we speak,” Rayer said when contacted.

Northeast district police chief Mior Faridalathrash Wahid when contacted for a comment, confirmed Zunar had been arrested at the Timur Laut police station under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948.

Yesterday, Penang Umno Youth members demanded Zunar take down the drawings he put on display at an exhibition he held at the concourse of Komtar.

The Penang Umno Youth members said they found Zunar’s drawings to be offensive as it depicted the prime minister and other national leaders in a bad light.

Nibong Tebal Umno Youth Chief Mohd Norhiesam Ismail lodged a police report shortly after, claiming that Zunar’s drawings had disturbed the peace of Malaysians at large.

Norhiesam said it was unacceptable for Zunar to depict national leaders like Prime Minister Najib Razak in such a manner.

Zunar, whose real name is Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, also claimed some 30 of those who confronted him were Umno members, and due to the commotion they created, he was forced to cancel his exhibition for security reasons.

The exhibition was supposed to run until Sunday.

In an immediate reaction, Zairil Khir Johari of the DAP lamented that it was both “sad and disappointing” that the George Town Literary Festival, in which Zunar was among the participants, had been marred by the latter’s arrest.

The Bukit Bendera member of parliament, in a  statement, said only yesterday, had Zunar been harassed by a group of hooligans.

“Today, instead of arresting his attackers, the authorities have charged Zunar with sedition.”

George Town Literary Festival director Bernice Chauly condemned the arrest saying it was contrary to the spirit of free speech and expression that was the central premise of the festival.

The festival’s organisers, the statement read, viewed the incident with great concern and appealed to the authorities to immediately release the cartoonist.

Meanwhile national laureate Muhammad Salleh said Zunar was someone who was not only a “conscience of society”, but committed to free speech and expression for Malaysians.

“Only through free speech can we be a nation that is truly democratic.”

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