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Zunar Accuses PAS-Linked Facebook Account of Altering His Political Cartoon

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feridundemir.org 2 weeks ago

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Zunar with his original political cartoon and the version he says was altered and reposted — Malaysian cartoonist Zunar alongside his original Tabung Haji cartoon and the version he says was altered and reposted.

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Malaysian political cartoonist Zunar says a cartoon he drew about the Tabung Haji Royal Commission of Inquiry was altered and reposted without his permission.

Zunar, whose real name is Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, said the cartoon had first been published the previous week before appearing in an altered form on a Facebook account called “PAS PN Seluruh Malaysia.”

He later shared the original work alongside the version he said had been modified.

The original cartoon had already appeared in The Vibes on August 19 in an opinion piece about the findings of the Tabung Haji inquiry.

Zunar said this was not the first time his work had been altered and circulated without permission.

In an earlier case, he accused PAS Melaka leader Azmi Haji Ali of modifying one of his cartoons and posting it on Facebook. Zunar said the matter was reported to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. The case is now before the courts, with the next hearing scheduled for October 23.

Zunar has also made similar complaints in the past. In 2019, he filed a report with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission over several social media accounts that he said had edited his original cartoons before publishing the altered versions online.

He again raised the issue in 2021, when he said cartoons of his had been modified and circulated by supporters of PAS and UMNO and that he had filed a police report over the matter.

Zunar, 64, is one of Malaysia’s best-known political cartoonists. In 2015, he received the Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom Award, becoming the first full-time cartoonist to receive the honour. The following year, he was one of the recipients of the Cartooning for Peace International Cartoonist Award.