Until the change in government this year, Zunar had faced a decade of persecution. Malaysian authorities charged him with nine counts of sedition, threatening him with over 40 years in prison. They have twice imprisoned him, banned him from traveling abroad, raided his office and harassed his staff, printers, vendors, and bookstores. Officials banned five of his cartoon books on grounds that they were “detrimental to public order.”

All that changed in May this year, when Malaysians voted out of office the ruling party and a reformist government took over — one of the few bright spots in a world losing ground to autocracy and censorship. Sedition charges were dropped in July and the travel ban is now gone.

Credit by- GIJN 

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