KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – Malaysian police have detained a cartoonist and are investigating two lawmakers for sedition over tweets and a cartoon condemning the judiciary for dismissing opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s final appeal against a sodomy conviction.
Anwar began a 5-year prison sentence Tuesday after the country’s top court ruled there was overwhelming evidence showing that he sodomized a former male aide. The case was widely seen as politically motivated to eliminate any threats to the ruling coalition, whose popularity has been eroding after more than five decades of unquestioned dominance.
Police detained cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Alhaque, better known as Zunar, at his home late Tuesday over a series of tweets on Anwar’s case. A cartoon he posted on Twitter showed Prime Minister Najib Razak as the judge in Anwar’s case.
National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar also directed his men to investigate opposition lawmakers Nga Kor Ming and Rafizi Ramli for sedition. Nga tweeted it was time for the people to oppose a cruel regime, while Rafizi tweeted a cartoon of a judge wearing a white wig with the dollar sign on it.
The police moves were criticized by rights groups, with New York-based Human Rights Watch saying it was shameful that Malaysian authorities had turned peaceful criticism into a criminal act.