Malaysian Police Arrest Satirical Artist Over Caricatures of Sabah Governor – The Diplomat

Malaysian authorities have released a graphic designer and activist on bail after questioning him under the Sedition Act for posting satirical images of the newly appointed governor of Sabah in east Malaysia.

Fahmija Reza, 47, was released on bail by police in Penampang district on Tuesday night and has since returned to Kuala Lumpur, local police officials confirmed yesterday to the Malaysian press.

Fahmi was arrested on December 30 at the Penampang district police headquarters, outside the state capital Kota Kinabalu, after he volunteered to make a statement in connection with the work criticizing Musa Aman, who was sworn in as the 11th governor yesterday (Yang Di – Pertua Negeri) of Sabah.

BenarNews quoted Sabah Police Commissioner Jauteh Dikun as saying that Fahmi had been arrested after the police received numerous reports that he and others pasted caricatures of Musa Aman in several areas, including Kota Kinabalu. Other matters involving the rebellion were under investigation.

Fahmi was questioned earlier in December over his social media posts depicting a caricature of Musa Aman, showing him holding a 100 ringgit note in his teeth.

But then he flew to Sabah late last week to pose with large paper cut-outs of the caricature in various parts of Kota Kinabalu. “The time has come for people to lose their fear of the ruler,” he wrote together with one post December 30, which appeared with a caricature photo on a viral crossroads in the capital of the country. “If you don’t want people to make fun of you, don’t be a rotten bastard.” IN another videowhich shows him posting a cartoon on a wall in Kota Kinabalu, said: “Solidarity with the people of Sabah who are fighting corruption, fighting bribery.”

Musa Aman, who served as Sabah’s chief minister from 2003 to 2018, has been accused of masterminding major corruption scandals during his time in office. He was among several senior politicians from the United Malays National Organization to be charged with corruption following the party’s shock defeat in the 2018 general election. However, in June 2020, four months after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan coalition that came to power in 2018, he was acquitted of 46 charges corruption and money laundering. Musa was accused of received 63 million dollars in bribes for logging contracts between 2004 and 2008.

News of Musa’s appointment as the state’s governor was met with questionable and outraged reactions on social media, where an old video of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s reaction to the 2020 acquittal is found. widely divided.

The reappointment of Musa Aman to the pinnacles of political power in Sabah is exactly the kind of outrageous impunity that Fahmi Reza has mocked and satirized throughout his career. He rose to prominence in 2016, when he posted a social media caricature of then-Prime Minister Najib Razak, another politician plagued by allegations of large-scale corruption, as a malicious clown. Like Hadi Azmi of the South China Morning Post recordedthis “became a viral symbol of protest against his administration amid allegations of corruption” and later appeared as placards at rallies calling for Najib’s resignation over his involvement in the 1MDB corruption scandal.

In April 2021, he was arrested for publishing a music playlist on Spotify that mocked the then Queen Tunka Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah. Just before that he was researched for rioting over two satirical works of art, including one depicting Dr. Adham Babu, then Minister of Health, dressed as Dracula.

Responding to local complaints about his activism—including calls to ban him from entering Sabah—Fahmi said in social media post on December 28 that he is “not your opponent”.

“I stand against the corrupt and corrupt rulers in our country who eat bribes and abuse the power that we the people give them,” he wrote.