Malaysian cartoonist Zunar publishes ‘Wasabi’ amid sedition charges

Malaysian cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, popularly known as Zunar, has launched his new book satirizing the billiondollar 1MBDB state fund corruption scandal in the capital, despite that his controversial drawings have already landed him nine sedition charges by state prosecutors.

Titled ‘Wasabi’ as a play on words for the Malaysian phrase, “Wa Sapu Billion” or “I took millions” the book contains a handful of proopposition cartoons that mock the 1MDB saga in which Prime Minister Najib Razak reportedly funnelled more than $700 million into his personal accounts.

Zunar pushed forward with the publication launch in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday despite the legal battle over tweets made in 2015 that threaten him with a 43year jail sentence under the 1948 Sedition Act.

“I regret his actions. Even if there is a difference in opinion, it should be settled within Malaysia. It is not wrong to have differences in opinion, or to disagree with the government, but why involve other countries?” Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak told local media at a press conference last week, referring to a recent exhibition of Zunar’s cartoons in Geneva, an event Salleh said ‘insulted’ the nation.

But Zunar has vowed to continue expressing his political opinions, saying that “Laughter is the best form of protest” and insisting he will “keep drawing until my last drop of ink”, according to a speech he made to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CJR).

The CJR last year awarded Zunar with the International Press Freedom Award, lauding his “provocative cartoons that lampoon issues of highlevel abuse of government power and corruption”.