Malaysia cartoonist hit with 'record' nine sedition charges

Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque has faced sedition charges previously for his cartoons and had collections of his works banned, but the current charges stem from his Twitter criticism of the February jailing of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. --PHOTO: AFP

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - A Malaysian political cartoonist known for skewering the country's ruling regime was charged Friday with what his lawyer called a record nine counts of sedition, one of dozens of targets in a deepening clampdown on civil liberties.

Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque - who goes by the pen name Zunar - has faced sedition charges previously for his cartoons and had collections of his works banned, but the current charges stem from his Twitter criticism of the February jailing of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

"They are really trying to shut me off from criticising the government, so I think it's clearly politically motivated," a defiant Zunar said as he arrived at a Kuala Lumpur courthouse to face the charges dressed in a mock prison jumpsuit and clowning for journalists with a set of handcuffs.

His lawyer Latheefa Koya later said nine sedition counts related to individual tweets were entered, calling it a Malaysian "record high" for a single court appearance.

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