Challenges
Zunar
Challenges
THE STORY OF CARTOONIST ZUNAR
THE RAID ON GEDUNG KARTUN
On September 20, 2010, Zunar produced a political cartoon magazine titled Gedung Kartun. Just a few days after its launch, on September 24, 2010, eight officers from the Home Ministry (KDN) raided his office and confiscated 408 copies of the magazine. The government also threatened to charge him under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, which carries a prison sentence of up to 3 years and a fine of RM20,000 (approximately USD 6,000). Furthermore, government officials raided the printing factory, seized the printing plates, and confiscated the magazine from bookstores nationwide, while issuing stern warnings against selling his work in the future. Following this incident, Zunar was summoned for interrogation by the authorities.
THE BANNING OF BOOKS
Refusing to bow to the pressure, he continued to publish new series of caricatures under different titles. However, on June 24, 2010, the government banned the series of books, which included titles such as Perak Darul Kartun, 1 Funny Malaysia, and Isu Dalam Kartun (Volumes 1, 2, and 3).The government claimed that the cartoons "could influence the people to revolt against national leaders." This ban forced bookstores to return all copies to Zunar's office, causing him financial losses of around RM80,000 (approximately USD 25,000).On July 26, 2010, Zunar filed a legal challenge in the High Court to contest the ban on Perak Darul Kartun and 1 Funny Malaysia. However, on July 14, 2011, the High Court dismissed his application. Undeterred, Zunar filed an appeal to bring the case before the Court of Appeal.On October 9, 2014, the Court of Appeal finally ruled in his favor, ordering the government to lift the ban on Perak Darul Kartun and 1 Funny Malaysia. The court also ordered that all confiscated books and original drawings be returned to him. Tragically, when Zunar received his items back, his original drawings were found to be severely damaged. He challenged this negligence in court once more. As a result, the court ordered the Malaysian government to pay Zunar RM18,000 (approximately USD 4,000) in damages as compensation for the ruined artwork.
THE CARTOON-O-PHOBIA EPISODE & ARREST
In response to the authorities' actions, which he described as being "afraid of cartoons," Zunar released a new book titled Cartoon-O-Phobia on September 20, 2010. Just hours before the book's official launch event on September 24, 2010, a team of ten armed police officers raided his office in Kuala Lumpur.During the raid, 64 copies of the Cartoon-O-Phobia book along with several original collage artworks were confiscated by the police. Zunar was subsequently handcuffed and arrested under the Sedition Act 1948 before being transported in a police truck/vehicle to be detained in the Sepang Police Station lockup, near KLIA. He was brought to court the following day before being released on police bail in the afternoon.Under the provisions of the Sedition Act 1948, anyone found guilty could face a maximum prison sentence of three years. Concurrently, 30 other police officers raided two separate printing factories. The police issued a stern warning to the printers not to print Zunar's books in the future, or face the immediate revocation of their printing licenses. The police also threatened to drag the printers and bookstore owners to court under the Sedition Act if they persisted in printing and selling the books.
PRINTERS RAIDED
In total at that time, three major printing companies were raided and threatened with severe legal action simply for printing his caricature book series.As a direct consequence of the continuous intimidation by the authorities, no local printing company dared to take the risk of printing Zunar’s titles. Similarly, bookstore owners across the country refused to sell his work out of fear for their business safety.To bypass these restrictions, Zunar resorted to drastic measures by printing his books clandestinely (underground), which was usually done at night in hidden locations. In terms of distribution and sales, he had to market them independently and shift entirely to online sales platforms to prevent seizures.Nevertheless, the authorities' harsh clampdown on his creativity did not end there. On April 6, 2014, his latest cartoon book titled Komplot Penjarakan Anwar – Najib Jatuh Hukum, Hakim Ikut Skrip along with its English version, The Conspiracy to Imprison Anwar, was officially banned by the Home Ministry (KDN) under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
ARREST OF ASSISTANTS AND PRESSURE ON THE WEBMASTER
The pressure from the authorities escalated further on October 6, 2014, when three of Zunar’s sales assistants were arrested and taken to the police station simply for selling his cartoon books. They were investigated under the Sedition Act 1948 and the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 before being released a few hours later. Following this, on November 13, 2014, the webmaster who managed Zunar’s official website and online bookstore was called in by the police for interrogation.Shortly after, on November 17, 2014, the police ordered the online payment gateway handling his book transactions, MOLPay, to surrender the complete list of customers who had purchased Zunar’s books through his official website, www.zunar.my. The company initially claimed it had no choice but to comply. Immediately, Zunar, through his legal team, issued a legal warning letter to the company. He reminded them that the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), which they had mutually signed, legally prohibited sharing customers' personal data with any third party, including the police.Zunar emphasized that he would not hesitate to drag the company to court if customer data was leaked. This legal warning eventually yielded results when the company relented and dropped its plan to hand over the data. Not long after, on November 20, 2014, Zunar himself was summoned and investigated under three laws simultaneously - the Sedition Act, the Printing Presses and Publications Act, and the Penal Code - for publishing cartoon books accused of "endangering public order." Furthermore, in January 2015, while he was on a speaking tour in London, his office in Kuala Lumpur was raided yet again by the police, resulting in the seizure of more than 150 cartoon books.
DETENTION UNDER THE SEDITION ACT
On February 10, 2015, Zunar was arrested by the police following his political cartoons and tweets criticizing the Federal Court’s decision to imprison opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Through these posts, he openly voiced his view that the case was a political conspiracy and used harsh language to label the judges involved as 'Barua Berjubah Hitam' (Lackeys in Black Robes). Consequently, Zunar was remanded for three days under the Sedition Act at the Dang Wangi District Police Headquarters (IPD) lockup. He was later transferred to the Bukit Aman Lockup for a more detailed interrogation and the collection of an "Intelligence Statement." While in detention, he was also questioned regarding the publication of his cartoon books. Zunar was released on bail on February 13, 2015.
ROS IN KANGKONG LAND
Shortly after his release, he bounced back to publish a highly controversial new work titled Ros in Kangkong Land. The book's content focused on the character of the Prime Minister's wife at the time, Rosmah, who was notorious for her extravagant spending on diamond rings and luxury bags.The book triggered a massive wave of controversy, to the point that its launch events could not proceed smoothly:February 14, 2015 (Seizure of Printing Truck): Hundreds of copies of Ros in Kangkong Land were aggressively seized by the police directly from a printing company truck that was en route to the public launch venue in Petaling Jaya. This action left only 20 copies to successfully reach buyers that day.February 28, 2015 (Raid on the Re-Launch Event): More than 20 police officers from the Brickfields Police Station raided and surrounded the re-arranged launch event for the book held in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. The police threatened to arrest Zunar immediately and confiscate all books if the program continued. To ensure the safety of the guests in attendance, Zunar decided to cancel the event.
COURT: NINE SEDITION CHARGES!
On April 3, 2015, Zunar was hauled to court over nine tweets posted on Twitter on February 10, 2015, which criticized the verdict in Anwar Ibrahim's imprisonment. This prosecution set a historic record as he faced 9 simultaneous charges under the Sedition Act 1948 - the highest number of charges ever leveled against a single individual under that act at one time in the nation's history. If found guilty on all nine charges, he faced a potentially crushing maximum prison sentence of up to 43 years. When appearing at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, Zunar chose to wear a purple shirt - the same color shirt he wore while in the lockup - as a symbolic gesture. As soon as all the charges were read out, he calmly pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. The judge set bail at RM2,500 for each charge, bringing the total bail amount to RM22,500. However, Zunar was re-arrested at the court right after being released - this time over a cartoon drawing posted on his Facebook page. He was released after being interrogated for a few hours.To defend himself, Zunar took a proactive step by filing a lawsuit in court to challenge the constitutionality of the Sedition Act 1948. Due to this constitutional challenge, the court allowed the main trial to be postponed multiple times pending a decision from the higher courts.
TRAVEL BAN
On October 17, 2016, Zunar discovered he was barred from leaving the country after being stopped by Immigration officers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). At the time, he was on his way to attend an academic forum at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Checks revealed that the travel ban had actually been enforced much earlier, starting on June 24, 2016. The ban imposed on him was indefinite (permanent). This drastic government action was taken following a cartoon art exhibition held earlier on May 1 along the shores of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) in Switzerland.The large-scale exhibition, executed in an Outdoor-Billboard Style, focused primarily on the 1MDB issue and corruption in Malaysia. Zunar immediately applied for a judicial review in court to overturn the immigration restriction. Although his initial application was rejected, he pushed forward with an appeal through a lengthy legal process. As a result of this travel ban, Zunar was unable to attend several high-profile international events, including the grand opening of his solo exhibition at the Maison du Dessin de Presse museum in Morges, Switzerland, the Nairobi Satire Festival in Kenya, and two special invitations in Sydney and London. Following the ban, Zunar filed an application for a judicial review at the Kuala Lumpur High Court in January 2018 to challenge the validity of the prohibition order.With his international travel completely blocked, Zunar shifted his focus to expanding his art exhibitions within the country.
ATTACKED AND ARRESTED IN PENANG
On November 25, 2016, Zunar organized an open-air art exhibition titled "Fight Through Cartoons" based on the same Outdoor-Billboard Style concept as his Geneva exhibition, held at the Komtar building in Penang. However, just hours after the exhibition opened, a mob of youths from the ruling political party barged in and destroyed the displayed artworks. They acted aggressively by surrounding, verbally abusing, and physically punching Zunar. The escalating situation forced the police to call in the anti-riot unit to restore order. Ironically, the following day on November 26, 2016, Zunar was the one arrested, whereas no arrests were made against the mob that caused the chaos and carried out the physical assault. In that operation, the police also confiscated all of his displayed, framed drawings as well as the books brought for sale. Zunar was subsequently placed in the Northeast District Police Headquarters (IPD Timur Laut) lockup to assist in investigations under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 504 of the Penal Code. He was remanded for one night before being taken to court and was ultimately released on police bail the following evening.
ARRESTED FOR "DETRIMENT TO PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY!"
Just two weeks after the incident in Penang, on December 17, 2016, Zunar returned to Kuala Lumpur and hosted a special event called “Tea with Zunar” (Hi-Tea with Zunar). This casual gathering with fans aimed to raise funds to cover the massive losses he suffered after his original drawings and books were destroyed by the mob at Komtar. The event took place at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH). However, around 2:30 PM, a team of police officers from the Dang Wangi Police Station raided the hall. Zunar was once again arrested along with four other individuals present at the gathering. Worse still, authorities confiscated 1,187 books and 103 T-shirts brought specifically for sale and distribution to fans. Zunar's arrest this time was due to activities deemed "Detrimental to Parliamentary Democracy."This raid dealt Zunar a double blow, resulting in an estimated loss of RM20,000 (approximately USD 4,500). Zunar and the other detainees were finally released on police bail the next morning.
THE SAPUMAN: MAN OF STEAL! EPISODE
Legal pressure on him continued into the following year. On October 3, 2017, another of Zunar's latest books, Sapuman: Man of Steal, was officially banned by authorities under Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984. The Home Ministry (KDN) issued the prohibition order on the grounds that the book's content was deemed "likely to be detrimental to public order and might influence the public to revolt or create prejudice against national security." Specifically, this satirical book contained a compilation of political caricatures heavily criticizing the 1MDB state fund financial scandal and mocking the leadership of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.Prior to that, on November 29, 2017, Zunar was summoned and interrogated by the police under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. This investigation focused on a satirical cartoon depicting a broken "chicken coin bank" (piggy bank) labeled with Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) - a sharp symbolic critique of the leakage of public funds used to pay off the debts of the 1MDB scandal. After the interrogation session ended that same day, the police confiscated his mobile phone to assist in further investigations.On that very same day (November 29, 2017), in a separate case, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Zunar's application to lift the overseas travel ban imposed on him by the Immigration Department since June 2016.
LAWS USED AGAINST ZUNAR
Under the old regime, six legal instruments were utilized by the authorities to restrict, investigate, and prosecute Zunar due to the outspoken nature of his artwork:
1. The Sedition Act 1948
2. The Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Multimedia Act)
3. The Penal CodeImmigration Law (for travel restrictions)
4. The Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984
5. Charges of Activities "Detrimental to Parliamentary Democracy"
6. The Penal Code
EPILOGUE: A VICTORY
The dark clouds hanging over Zunar’s career finally cleared following a historic political transition in Malaysia:May 10, 2018: The Barisan Nasional (BN) government led by Datuk Seri Najib Razak fell in the 14th General Election (GE14).
June 13, 2018: The international travel ban imposed on Zunar for nearly two years was completely lifted by the new government.
July 30, 2018: All 9 sedition charges faced by him in court under the Sedition Act 1948 were fully dropped by the Attorney General's Chambers.
He was acquitted and discharged without conditions.
August 2, 2018: The Malaysian government through the Home Ministry officially revoked the ban on Zunar's books, allowing his works to be sold openly in the local market once again.