ZULKIFLI Anwar Ulhaque, better known as “Zunar”, today said Penang police will return his seized drawings, marking another victory for the cartoonist since Pakatan Harapan captured Putrajaya.

Zunar frequently got into trouble with law enforcement under the previous Barisan Nasional administration. He had drawn, among others, cartoons mocking former prime minister Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Mere days after the May 9 general election, which saw BN ousted from power, Zunar’s travel ban was lifted.

On Monday, nine sedition charges against him were dropped after the Attorney-General’s Chambers decided not to pursue the case.

“Latest: NFA (no further action), but a suit is still a suit! Just heard from Penang police that the sedition probe against me is NFA and the cartoon drawings seized will be returned,” Zunar said on Facebook.

He was referring to drawings that were confiscated in November 2016 during an exhibition at Komtar, held in conjunction with the annual George Town Literary Festival.

The cartoonist was forced to cut short his exhibition after just three hours due to a ruckus raised by a group claiming to be from the state Umno Youth.

The group demanded that Zunar remove his drawings, saying they were offensive.

Local Umno Youth division chief Mohd Norhiesam Ismail lodged a police report against Zunar, accusing him of “disturbing the peace of Malaysians” through his cartoons.

Following the report, police seized the drawings. Zunar was also arrested, and spent a day in detention to facilitate investigations under the Sedition Act and Penal Code for breaching the peace. He was released on police bail.

Last year, he filed a suit to have drawings seized by Penang and Kuala Lumpur police returned to him.

“Yes, the drawings can be returned, but a suit is still a suit!” he said on Facebook.

Penang police confirmed that they will return the artwork.

“We are returning 10 drawings. We are dealing with his lawyer on getting the drawings back to him,” said police. – August 1, 2018.