KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 (Bernama) -- The High Court here today ruled that the
arrest and detention of cartoonist Zulkiflee SM Anwar, popularly known as Zunar,
by police two years ago was lawful.
However, judicial commissioner Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera said the seizure of
66 of his books and a painting was unlawful.
He ordered the books and the painting to be returned to the cartoonist.
In the judgment, Vazeer said the authorities had failed to provide evidence
to substantiate the seizure of the books, adding that the law did not allow for
the materials to be kept for a long time.
"The continued confiscation of the books will affect the plaintiff''s right
to his livelihood," he added.
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COURT-CARTOONIST 2 (LAST) KUALA LUMPUR
Vazeer also allowed special damages sought by the plaintiff on the seized
books, the amount to be assessed by the registrar.
In the suit filed on June 15 last year, Zulkiflee and his company, Sepakat
Sdn Bhd, had named ASP A.Arikrishna, ASP Marina Hashim, Inspector-General of
Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar, Home Ministry and the Malaysian government as
defendants.
In his statement of claim, Zulkiflee said that a police team led by ASP
Arikrishna raided his office at 4pm on Sept 24, 2010, arrested him and seized 66
books titled ''Cartoon-0-Phobia'' as well as a cartoon drawing.
He claimed that he was then taken to several police stations within Kuala
Lumpur and Selangor and remanded overnight at the KL International Airport
police station for alleged incitement.
He questioned the basis for his arrest, remand and seizure of his works,
arguing that the actions were illegal and unconstitutional, and aimed at
sabotaging the launch of his book.
He was represented by counsel N.Surendran while Senior Federal Counsel Nor
Hisham Ismail represented the defendants.
-- BERNAMA
SAN MAM MIS