A coalition of international NGOs have urged the record nine sedition charges against cartoonist Zunar to be dropped.

In a letter to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, they also urged him to fulfill his 2012 promise to repeal the Sedition Act 1948.

"Freedom of expression is an essential part of any democratic society and the Malaysian authorities must protect this right for all, including those who are critical of government," said the group.

Among the signatories of the letter are Article 19, English PEN, Index on Censorship, Media Legal Defence Initiative and PEN International.

The letter was also copied to attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail and inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar.

Zunar was on April 3 charged with nine counts of sedition for his remarks made on Twitter critising the judiciary for jailing then opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Last month, the Sedition Act 1948 was amended to allow criticism of the government and the judiciary.

However, other aspects of the colonial era law were strengthened, taking away the discretion of the courts in sentencing, and imposing a mandatory jail term of three years.

This was despite Najib’s promise to repeal the law in 2012 in the run up to the 13 ^th general election.

The premier made a U-turn at the end of 2014 after receiving pressure from Umno members.