The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists strongly condemns the detention of the political cartoonist Zunar by the Malaysian authorities. Zunar and his wife have been the subject of continued harassment by police in Kuala Lumpur.
The systematic repression of Zunar and his work has been ongoing for years. At first, Zunar’s popular books were confiscated from booksellers, and now the Malaysian authorities have jailed him, gone after webmasters publishing his work, and have confiscated his wife’s phone for “seditious” tweets.
This unjustified and irresponsible response to Zunar and his wife’s freedom of expression is especially odious given the recent mass murder of the editors and cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo.
The AAEC calls upon the Malayasian government to release Zunar and cease their efforts against his wife, and to respect the rights of citizens to dissent peacefully.
