Cops release Zunar and four others

Police have released cartoonist Zunar and four others after arresting them during a fund raising event yesterday afternoon.

According to Zunar, he and four others was released close to midnight after being questioned for about six hours straight.

"There were about seven to 10 police personnel at any one time. They asked about my cartoons, page by page.

"They wanted to know who are these characters? What was I drawing? Who sponsored my work? Which company was behind it?

"I followed my lawyer's advice and chose not to answer," he said when contacted.

He claimed that the investigators were intentionally giving him a hard time. At one point, claimed Zunar, the police threatened to strip him of his rights to his cartoons.

"It would mean I won't have rights over my books anymore. The books won't belong to me," he said.

Zunar and four others were arrested during an event in Kuala Lumpur to raise funds for the cartoonist, who suffered losses after police confiscated his work in Penang three weeks ago.

"So I held a fund raiser, it is not against the law. I tried to avoid confrontation with the police, that's why I did it indoors. It was a very private function, with only friends," he said.

On Nov 26, a mob attacked Zunar's exhibition at Komtar, Penang. Curiously, Zunar was arrested instead and his works confiscated.

Previously, the police had also sought a travel ban against Zunar, who frequently travels abroad to share his work.- Mkini