Malaysian cartoonist acquitted of nine sedition charges

Judge Zamri Baka of the Sessions Court in Kuala Lampur has acquitted Malaysian cartoonist Zunar (whose real name is Zulkiflee Anwar Ul Haque) of the nine sedition charges against him, after prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney-General in Malaysia informed the court that they were withdrawing the charges.

In April 2015, Zunar was charged with nine counts of sedition, in terms of Malaysia’s Sedition Act 1948, for tweets that he had posted criticising a court ruling that upheld the conviction and five-year prison sentence for sodomy of the then-opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim. The charges against Zunar alleged that the tweets were insulting to the judiciary. Each charge of sedition carried a penalty of up to 43 years’ imprisonment.

Zunar was charged together with federal government official, R. Sivarasa, and civil rights lawyer, N. Surendran, who had also criticised the court ruling against Anwar Ibrahim. They have also been acquitted of the sedition charges against them.

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