Lawyer Eric Paulsen has questioned the Attorney-General's Chambers' (AG Chambers) decision to appeal for tougher punishment against artist Fahmi Reza for posting a clown-faced caricature of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak on social media.

"One would think the attorney-general and communications and the multimedia minister would have made clear that there should no longer be any such politically motivated prosecutions or appeals in New Malaysia.

"But it is still happening, just like the AG Chambers had appealed to enhance Tian's sedition sentence.

"So why is this still happening in New Malaysia?" said Paulsen, who is the legal director of NGO Fortify Rights.

"Why is the AGC still appealing to enhance the punishment for a mere social media post by Fahmi Reza, to possibly jail him, like nothing has changed since the 14th general election?" he added in a series of postings on Twitter.

Fahmi was previously charged under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.

On Feb 20, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court found Fahmi guilty and sentenced him to a month's jail and RM30,000 fine.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court on Nov 12 commuted the punishment, setting aside the jail sentence and reducing his fine to RM10,000.

However, prosecutors in charge of the case are now appealing to the Court of Appeal to seek for a stiffer punishment.