YOURSAY | ‘Never before have I come across people afraid of comics and cartoonists.’

Zunar detained again, nabbed at fundraiser

Trueglitter: The continuous harassment of widely-respected and renowned political cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, better known as Zunar, by the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) is a crying shame and fatalistic attack on our parliamentary system, with freedom of expression, even through art exhibitions and thought-provoking cartoons by our law-abiding citizens, now being considered a national threat to the security of the country.

The widely-condemned detention of Zunar for the second time by PDRM has invariably provoked the sensitive feelings of many concerned and unforgiving rakyat as his detention occurred during a fund-raising event.

The once highly-regarded PDRM has seemingly been reduced to a mere shadow of its past glory, with the current law enforcement agency's performance and ruling now clearly perceived to be at the behest and beholden to the bidding of Umno-BN, particularly the controversial and untouchable Najib Abdul Razak.

SpecialBrew: I’ve seen people fearing a lot of things, but never before have I come across people afraid of comics and cartoonists. Zunar must be very good at what he does. I will definitely get his books.

Gerard Lourdesamy: This is blatant abuse of power by the police at the behest of the political leadership. How is criticism of, or insulting the leadership of the country, sedition? The Sedition Act itself was amended to remove criticism of the government as a seditious tendency.

Najib and wife Rosmah Mansor or their family are not the government collectively, and Najib alone is not the government.

Given the increasing crime rate in the country and the threat of IS, the police should not be wasting their time intimidating and harassing a cartoonist just because the Umno leadership cannot appreciate Zunar's humour and political satire.

The reactionary tendencies of the police, since the explosion of the 1MDB scandal, have caused a perception among the public that the police force has been politicised by the ruling party and is devoid of integrity and professionalism.

That is why the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) should be fully implemented and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) given a free reign to eradicate corruption within the police force, from top to bottom.

Worldly Wise: Zunar must be congratulated. His cartoons have made an impression.

Lots of cartoons on David Cameron, Donald Trump and even Barack Obama ridicule the subject's appearance in order to send a message.

If they portray an untruth or unacceptable comment not based on the truth, the cartoonist and publisher expose themselves to be sued for defamation and can get court injunctions to restrain publication.

Sending the Special Branch to confiscate cartoons and arresting citizens is not the way to deal with the situation.

Clongviews: Whoever is the police officer in the video, he could have exercised some civility and at least listened before shouting for the arrest.

After all, the environment seemed peaceful and by being so imposing, respect was lost.

RisinGstaR: So, if any of the officers can simply and be openly downright rude to the public, showing totally no respect for other people and their feelings, I just can't imagine what would happen during closed-door questioning.

Anonymous #19098644: The Malaysian police force has been misused by the Umno regime to oppress the rakyat and turn this wonderful country into a police state in order to protect MO1 (Malaysian Official 1).

The result is that a once highly respected professional force has become a laughing stock. Instead of investigating the alleged crook, MO1, they are arresting the most acclaimed Malaysian cartoonist.

The inspector-general of police (IGP) has brought shame to the Malaysian police.

Mr KJ John: Dear IGP, please be advised that your officer who was leading the arrest team is not fit for this job and mistreated all those who tried to reason with him.

He shouted his authority to arrest as if citizens today would be scared by it. I protested to him and he apologised to me, but surely you know that "abusive arrests like this" are intimidation and citizens are not going to take "such bullying any more."

RM2.6 Billion Turkey Haram: Ridiculous and disgusting are the words to describe the police action. Why must Zunar, a cartoonist trying to earn an honest living, be victimised for telling stories of our corrupt leaders through cartoons?

Zunar would stop immediately if only the police were doing the right thing: arresting the corrupt leaders.

Something is very wrong. Zunar, a patriot by any standard in any country, is hounded by the police, while the traitors are enjoying their loot.

JesuisAnwar: Yes, this is exactly the kind of police misconduct that brings shame to the entire nation, following hard on the heels of an even greater shame that we are utterly powerless to sack a leader in public office named MO1, despite evidence that he and his wife have allegedly stolen billions from a "sovereign" fund.

Rupert16: This is pure harassment, intimidation and abuse of power by the police. Does the police officer who made the arrest consider himself a civil servant?

Peter Kandiah: So, opening one's mouth is obstructing a civil servant?

Nckhoo: White terror, again.

Meh: When a government arrests a cartoonist, it shows the government is scrapping the bottom of a barrel. A cartoonist's job is to make people laugh and they are saying, "don't laugh!"

My God, we should, from time to time, laugh at ourselves.

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