Zunar to AG: Drop all charges under Sedition Act

Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali must drop all charges under the Sedition Act following his decision to discontinue the sedition prosecution against Universiti Malaya law professor Azmi Sharom.

Cartoonist Zunar, who himself is facing nine charges under the controversial Act, said Apandi’s decision was simply “too little and too political”.

“He dropped the charges based on political issues,” the cartoonist told Malaysiakini, pointing out that the sedition charges against Seputeh MP Teresa Kok were dropped when US president Barack Obama visited the country last year.

“Now when the AG is under pressure, he dropped Azmi’s case. It’s all a political move.

“If he's serious, what he needs to do is to first drop all charges (under the Sedition Act)," he said.

Zunar, whose full name is Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, stressed that individuals charged under the Act had merely practised their freedom of speech and expression.

“Around 200 individuals are currently investigated under the Act. I don't know how many have been charged, but (the AG must) drop all the charges,” he said.

Apart from dropping the charges, Apandi must also admit the mistake in charging former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim with sodomy and charge Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on the RM2.6 billion fiasco.

“If he does all these things, I’ll say this is true reform,” he said.

The cartoonist was charged for his nine allegedly seditious tweets last April following Anwar's conviction for Sodomy II last year.

In a surprising move today, Apandi said he decided to discontinue prosecution against Azmi after examining the evidence given by the prosecution’s witnesses in court and using his discretion under Article 145(3) of the federal constitution.

The law don was charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act for a comment he made to Malay Mail Online on the Selangor menteri besar crisis that was brewing in 2014, in an article titled ‘Take Perak crisis route for speedy end to Selangor impasse, Pakatan told’. -Mkini