GRAPHIC artist Fahmi Reza said he has been barred from travelling overseas, bemoaning the move made by the Immigration Department.

He said the authorities should not practise double standards by banning him from travelling as it had allowed convicted individuals to travel overseas.

In an Instagram post, the activist said he discovered yesterday that he had been blacklisted by the Immigration Department.

“I have been barred from renewing my passport and travelling overseas. The Immigration Department said the stop order came from Bukit Aman,” he said in the post.

Fahmi said he needed to travel to Europe in May as he was involved in a theatre production.

“I will try to get clearance from Bukit Aman after Hari Raya. If a person convicted of 42 corruption charges can get clearance to travel overseas, hopefully Bukit Aman will give me clearance also. Let’s not have double standards,” he said in the post, without naming former prime minister Najib Razak who was allowed to travel to Singapore last year to visit his newborn grandchild.

The activist, whose biting illustrations have on several occasions irked the authorities, ran into trouble again over another drawing that was deemed seditious.

Fahmi was arrested under section 4 of the Sedition Act 1948 and section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 over an illustration of Mojo Jojo, the main villain in the cartoon The Powerpuff Girls.

His rendition of Mojo Jojo, which appeared to show the character dressed in royal attire, displeased the authorities.

Section 4 of the Sedition Act 1948 concerns the offence of committing acts with seditious tendencies. It carries a punishment of up to three years in jail, a RM5,000 fine or both, for the first offence.

Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 criminalises, among others, the use of network facilities or network services by a person to transmit any communication that is deemed to be offensive and could cause annoyance to another person.

It carries a fine of up to RM50,000 or up to a year in jail or both. – April 23, 2022.