M’sian artist charged a second time over Najib caricature

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian graphic artist Fahmi Reza was charged for the second time yesterday under the country’s multimedia law for posting a caricature image of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on his Facebook account to protest against allegations of corruption.

His depictions of Mr Najib went viral earlier this year, and posters and stickers bearing the images have appeared in public places, earning him comparisons to other provocateurs such as British artist Banksy.

Fahmi, 39, was charged at the Ipoh Sessions Court yesterday morning under a section of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Act that forbids online distribution of content deemed to be “obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person”.

He faces a possible one-year prison sentence and a RM50,000 (S$16,699) fine, if found guilty.

According to the charge sheet, Fahmi was alleged to have uploaded an image which depicted Mr Najib in clown make-up on his Facebook account on Feb 8 at about 12.31pm.

The judge set bail at RM7,000 in one surety, lower than the RM10,000 requested by the deputy public prosecutor. The case was fixed for mention on June 27.

“We argued for a lesser sum because the bail is only meant to secure his attendance to court and before this, (when) the police called him to give a statement, he came back from Thailand to Malaysia to cooperate,” said Fahmi’s lawyer, Melissa Sasidaran, to Malay Mail Online.

She said he is currently working in Thailand, earning RM2,000 a month.

“He cooperated the entire way and he was present in court today. So I argued that the bail should not be a high amount so as to have the effect of punishing him before he was convicted,” she added.

Fahmi was charged on Monday in Kuala Lumpur under the same law for allegedly posting an image of Mr Najib in clown make-up on Jan 31 through his Instagram account @kuasasiswa. The case has been fixed for mention on June 17.

He had been warned by police previously to stop posting the images, which show Mr Najib in powder-white clown make-up with evilly arched eyebrows and a garish blood-red mouth.

In a Facebook posting yesterday, Fahmi said he is ready to go to jail to defend his freedom of expression and the people’s right to protest against corruption. “Now is not the time for us to be afraid of the powers that be. Corruption and injustice have to continue to be opposed,” he said.

Mr Najib is battling accusations that billions of dollars were stolen from state-owned fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which he oversees, and is under pressure over US$681 million (S$925 million) in overseas funds that were deposited into his personal bank account.

Both Mr Najib and 1MDB have denied any wrongdoing, and the Malaysian Attorney-General’s office has cleared Mr Najib of any criminal offences or corruption. AGENCIES