The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the government to drop all criminal charges against cartoonist Zunar and cease harassing him for his work.
This was after Zunar, whose real name is Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, was arrested for sedition last Saturday.
It came a day after a group led by Penang Umno Youth chief Rafizal Abd Rahim thrashed Zunar's exhibition of cartoons critical of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
"Rather than arresting and threatening one of Malaysia's most prominent cartoonists, the authorities should instead identify and prosecute those responsible for this crude and egregious attack on press freedom.
"The government's harassment of Zunar has reached dangerous proportions. It should stop immediately," CPJ's senior South-East Asia representative Shawn Crispin said today.