A Malaysian political cartoonist was on Friday charged with nine counts of sedition over tweets insulting the judiciary after the conviction of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim in a sodomy case, amid criticism from rights group that the government was stifling dissent. Zulkiflee Anwar Haque, 53, known for lampooning the ruling coalition, was charged before the Sessions Court here for posting seditious tweets on February 10, the day Federal Court upheld Anwar’s conviction for sodomising his former aide in 2008.
The tweets contained commentary of the proceedings on the day and mentioned the Chief Justice and Palace of Justice. The charges were broken up into three sets of three charges each to reflect that the tweets were treated as separate transactions. The defiant cartoonist Zulkiflee, also known as Zunar, could be jailed consecutively for each of the three “transactions”, if found guilty. The charges are punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to 5,000 Malaysian Ringgit.