Cartoonist Zunar’s office raided, books seized

Police seize copies of books by satire cartoonist Zunar at his office today. The artist was not there as he was in London. – The Malaysian Insider pic, January 28, 2015.

Police today raided the office of satire cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Alhaque, or Zunar, and seized his copies of his books.

The artist who is in London tweeted: "Police in my office, looking for me. But I currently in London. So they are taking all my books."

It is still unclear if the raid and seizures are related to an ongoing police investigation against Zunar, who in 2010 was detained for two days under the Sedition Act. He currently faces possible charges under the same act.

One of his earlier tweets dated January 26 said he was due to speak at Oxford University and Cambridge University.

He also tweeted that he gave a talk "To fight through cartoons" in London,  an event organised by the Monsoons Book Club.

Two policemen had come to Zunar's office, which shares the same premises as PKR's party organ, Suara Keadilan, at around 10.30am this morning.

According to a staff member working at Suara Keadilan, those working in the office did not cooperate when asked to give statements by the officers.

At 11.15am, four more police officers came and began asking questions and seizing the books, the worker told The Malaysian Insider which went to the office.

Zunar tweeted again this afternoon that 149 books had been seized. They were both the English and Bahasa Malaysia versions of "Conspiracy to imprison Anwar" and "Pirates of the Carry BN".

In a brief statement sent to the media, the cartoonist said the police officers had been led by one ASP Lim Ah Heng, from the legal division of the criminal investigation department at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.

He said the confiscation of his books were made under the Printing Presses Act, Sedition Act and Penal Code.

Zunar added that he would be called to the police station upon his return to Malaysia.

In another tweet, he criticised the police's actions, saying "Kalau kartun dirasa fitnah, silakan orang yg terasa itu kemuka saman sivil. Tiada masalah. Saya bantah guna undang2 jenayah spt akta hasutan" (If the cartoons are defamatory, those who feel aggrieved should file a civil suit. No problem. I oppose the use of criminal laws like the Sedition Act).

- TMI