Zunar gets UN boost as Putrajaya bids to hush him

While Putrajaya has repeatedly tried to silence Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque - better known as Zunar - the United Nation (UN) is giving the cartoonist a platform to speak to the world.

Zunar, who has faced multiple raids and had his cartoon books confiscated, said he has been invited to speak as a panelist at a UN forum in Geneva on Friday.

"In my speech, I will reaffirm my stand that the freedom of expression for artists - including cartoonists - is paramount and cannot be compromised.

"I will also touch on the lack of commitment from the UN to protect artists - hence giving more power to corrupt regimes and extremist bigots to be more repressive towards artists," he said in a Facebook posting.

The forum is titled, ‘Defending Artistic Expression: Time for the UN to Act’ and is part of the UN Human Rights Council Session and jointly organised by Article 19, a London-based human rights group.

Zunar's office was last Wednesday raided by the police and three titles totalling 155 books confiscated as part of a sedition probe.

The probe was initiated after authorities arrested Zunar's staff for selling his books titled, ‘Konspirasi Memenjarakan Anwar’ (Conspiracy to Jail Anwar) and ‘Pirates of the Carry-BN’ during Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's (right) Sodomy II appeal.

Meanwhile, New-York based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged Putrajaya to "halt the legal harassment" of Zunar.

"Instead of threatening critics with an outdated sedition law, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak should be working to scrap the legislation, as he once vowed to do," said the CPJ senior Southeast Asia representative.