Wednesday, May 18, 2016
MALAYSIA’S DEPUTY PM SUGGESTS POLICE ACTION AGAINST ZUNAR FOR EXHIBITING CARTOONS IN GENEVA
Zunar_Plantu_-Kofi-Annan“It is a duty of a cartoonist to expose corruption and injustices” — Zunar
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says he will leave it to the
police to decide whether to take action against Zunarfor exhibiting cartoons critical
of Prime Minister Najib Razak in Geneva. Last week
Malaysia’s Communications Minister Salleh Said
Keruak said that Zunar’s
cartoons targeting the scandal-plaguedadministration of Prime Minister
Najib could be considered“economic sabotage.” Zunar was asked to
exhibit his cartoons alongside those of East-African cartoonist Gado after the two cartoonists were
presented the 2016 Cartooning For Peace Award by former UN
secretary-general Kofi Annan. The award is presented to
cartoonists for “courage, talent and commitment to the values of peace and
tolerance — as well as for their fight for freedom of expression.”
Zunar issued a press release
in response to the Malaysian government’s new threats:
“For me, these are new plots by the authorities to
silence me. For years, I have been subjected to all sorts of harassments and
intimidations involving three laws — the Sedition Act, Printing & Presses Act and The Penal Code.
“I was arrested and put behind
bars twice and am now facing nine charges under the Sedition Act and facing
possible 43 years jail if found guilty.
“Seven of my books have been
banned, my office was raided several times, the bookstores and printers were
also raided. Thousands of books and original drawings and printing plates
were confiscated, my sale assistants were arrested and so was my online sale
manager.
“I would like to reiterate that:
talent is not a gift, but a responsibility. It is a duty of a cartoonist
to expose corruption and injustices. Freedom of expression is not a
prerogative of the government, but it is my right!”
Zunar-with-cartoon-exhibition-in-Geneva
Zunar is past recipient of CRNI’s Courage In Editorial
Cartooning Award,
the International Press Freedom Award, and has twice been presented the Human Rights Watch Hellman/Hammett
Award.
The cartoons on display in Geneva
exhibition, including the work of other Cartooning For Peace members, can be seen here. An educational supplement
to the exhibition catalogue can be seen here.
A highly placed Malaysian
government official has lashed out at the cartoonistZunar for exhibiting his political
cartoons in Geneva. Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruacsuggested that criticizing
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in a foreign country could be seen
as an act of “economic sabotage,” and
is part of a plan to “topple the prime
minister.” Zunar responded to the notion of a cartoon coup d’etat: “If a cartoonist
can topple the PM, that is not illegal, but hilarious.“
In response to Salleh’s statement
that “It is not wrong to have differences in opinion, or to disagree with the
government, but why involve other countries,” Zunar reminded
the minister that his books of cartoons disagreeing with the government have
been banned and confiscated in Malaysia since 2010, and he and his employees
jailed and harassed. Zunar is currently facing sedition charges for a
series of tweets. If found guilty, the cartoonist faces up to 43 years in
prison.
Along with Zunar’s work, the
Geneva exhibition includes cartoons by Kenya-based
cartoonist Gado and members of Cartooning For Peace. The exhibition was opened after Zunar and Gado were awarded the 2016
Cartooning For Peace Prize for showing courage in their fight for freedom of
expression. The exhibition will run through June 4.
In an open post, Zunar suggested
that Minister Salleh might better understand his cartoons by buying the
cartoonist’s latest book. “If you are still
not clear about my cartoons, you can come to my new book launch [for] WASABI (Wa Sapu Billion) on this Saturday (14th May) and
buy one. No, you cannot buy it at bookstores, because your ‘democratic’
government has banned it.
“
Zunar is past recipient of CRNI’s Courage In Editorial
Cartooning Award,
the International Press Freedom Award, and has twice been presented the Human Rights Watch Hellman/Hammett
Award.
