KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — Cartoonist Zulkiflee SM Anwar Ulhaque, better known as Zunar, was barred today from leaving the country ahead of a flight to Singapore.
Zunar said an immigration officer informed him that the travel ban was an instruction from Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar effective last June 24.
“They didn’t give a reason and just cited ‘special reasons’,” Zunar told Malay Mail Online when contacted.
“It’s very strange. Normally, it comes from immigration, but this one was from the police to immigration,” he added.
I was stopped at KLIA from leaving Malaysia few minutes ago. uner police instruction pic.twitter.com/nBbwlDuvJS
— Zunar Cartoonist (@zunarkartunis) October 17, 2016
The cartoonist, who frequently mocks corruption and Malaysian politics, said he was flying to Singapore to give a talk.
Zunar was slapped with nine sedition charges in April last year that could see him face 43 years in prison.
He was accused of making nine “seditious” tweets which, among others, alleged judicial bias and government intervention in PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy trial and conviction.
