Cartoonist cites loss of collage on Rosmah's hairstyle

Cartoonist Zunar, who is contesting his arrest by the police on Sept 24, 2010, testified today that he suffered losses after the raiding party seized 66 copies of his book ‘Cartoon-o-phobia’, as well as related artwork.

As the first witness in his civil suit in the Kuala Lumpur High Court, Zunar said the materials seized included an A2 size collage depicting Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor.

"I had gone to 10 barber shops to gather hair to depict Rosmah's hairstyle. The collage was to represent how powerful (she is) in running the country with Najib as PM," said the cartoonist, whose real name is Zulkiflee SM Anwar Ulhaque.

“Artwork should not be bent or rolled up. Now, all the material has been damaged, lost or confiscated.”

For the first time since the police confiscated the items 15 months ago, the collage was produced by the police who showed it to the court.

The cartoonist said the police raided his office in Brickfields about 4pm on Sept 24, 2010 - hours before ‘Cartoon-o-phobia’ was to be launched that night.

“During the raid, I called up my lawyer Latheefa Koya and my family members. I also received several calls including one from Malaysiakini journalist, Salhan K Ahmad, asking about the raid.

“Latheefa came with non-practising lawyer and human rights activist Eric Paulsen to my office, along with Salhan who was there for media coverage.”

Zunar said he asked the police the reason for his arrest, but that they failed to state clearly which of his works in the book had violated the law. Instead, he was told that he was being investigated for sedition.

When his lawyer questioned the police, the response was that the seizure of the books was being done under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA).

Zunar defended his works as a means of expressing the current state of affairs in the country.

Following his arrest, however, he was taken to several police stations in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor and had to spend a night under remand at the KL International Airport police station.

He explained that the book - “a political commentary on current affairs” - was a compilation of his cartoons that were published by Malaysiakini , while his company, Sepakat Efektif, was the distributor.

‘Police were intimidating’

Zunar and Sepakat Elektif Sdn Bhd - in which he is the director - are the plaintiffs in the civil suit filed for unlawful detention.

They have named arresting officer Arikrishna Apparau, investigating officer Marina Hashim, Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar, the Home Ministry and the government as defendants.

In his statement of claim, Zunar questioned the basis for his arrest, detention, seizure of his works and claimed that the authorities’ action was unlawful and violated his freedom of expression under the constitution.

He is seeking general, exemplary and aggravated damages, an order that his works be returned to him and special damages of RM1,650 for the artwork.

Latheefa, who testified next, said she had asked the arresting officer why there was a need to take all the books, and was told that the case was classified as an offence under the PPPA.

“It was clear that the arresting officer did not have a good look at the book to state his reason for arresting Zunar. To me the arrest was mala fide (of bad intention), arbitrary and an abuse of police power.

“They seemed bent on intimidating, discriminating and troubling Zunar (throughout) the process.”

Latheefa (left) said Zunar was first taken to the Brickfields police station, where a report was lodged on his arrest.

He was then moved to police stations in Petaling Jaya, Puchong and Seri Kembangan, before being taken to the one at KLIA.

“Salhan and a Malaysiakini (videographer) covered his arrest,” she said.

Paulsen and Salhan then took the stand as witnesses for the plaintiffs.

Zunar was represented by N Surendran and Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, while senior federal counsel Norhisham Ismail appeared for the respondents.