If humour is subjective, why was I arrested and my cartoons seized by the police, asked political cartoonist Zunar, whose real name is Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque.

“Cartoons make people laugh, not hate. If you want to hate, that is your choice, but most people laugh at cartoons,” said Zunar, whose artworks mostly lampooned Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor.

He said there was no law that prevented a cartoonist from criticising leaders, but the Sedition Act was frequently invoked to threaten him.

Zunar said police chief Khalid Abu Bakar’s analogy of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to justify his arrest last Friday was “irrelevant and unnecessary”.

Citing the case of Charlie Hebdo, Khalid said the cartoons became the target of terror attacks for its cartoons on Prophet Muhammad although some quarters found it humorous.

He insisted that the police action against Zunar was within the scope of law, and whether the cartoonist would be charged or not was up to the AG’s chambers.

Zunar maintained that the case of Charlie Hebdo did not apply to Malaysia.

He pointed out that the current burning issues in Malaysia was the alleged money laundering involving 1MDB, ‘Malaysian Official 1” and the RM2.6 billion donation by a Saudi royalty into the private bank accounts of Najib.

He said Najib may have denied any wrongdoing while Attorney-General Apandi Mohammed Ali had cleared his name but the issues continued to be questioned by Malaysians, and the international community.

Zunar said he would never have been able to continue his artworks if they were not well received by his supporters, which easily numbered about 100,000, especially on social media.

“My artwork is based on the current political situation; I do not attack but criticise corrupt practices of leaders.

“Besides, if issues such as M01, 1MDB and RM2.6 billion, are not international issues, I wouldn’t have been able to produce cartoons criticising the issues,” he added.

He reminded the IGP that MO1 was mentioned 36 times in the US Department of Justice’s civil suit to reclaim money allegedly laundered by Najib's associate - Penang-born businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) and his stepson Riza Aziz.

Zunar was held for the 10th time under the Sedition Act and Section 504 of the Penal Code last Friday, for attempting to breach peace after his cartoon exhibition was thrashed by Penang Umno youths led by its state chief Rafizal Abdul Rahim.

In a police report lodged against Zunar, Rafizal said the cartoonist had insulted and lied about Najib, who is also BN and Umno chief.

Zunar said there were cartoonists who wished to “ampu or bodek” (praise or brown nose) political leaders, and they were welcomed to do it. However, he said he should not be forced to do so.

He was referring to an exhibition themed “Wassatiyah” of four cartoonists at the Putra World Trade Centre, at the ongoing Umno Annual General Assembly.

Zunar said he was willing to educate Khalid on the whole range of cartoon genre and also show him how to draw, so he would understand the struggles of cartoonists.

“We all choose our own paths,” he said, adding “No one can and should tell a cartoonist what to draw; the IGP has no business telling me what to draw, I draw what I think is best for a better Malaysia”.