Malaysia: Artist jailed for a month for making a caricature of Prime Minister Najib Razak
Fahmi Reza was also fined 30,000 ringgits.
A Malaysian artist and activist was sent to jail for a month on Tuesday for making a caricature of Prime Minister Najib Razak in which he looks like a clown, Reuters reported.
Fahmi Reza was found guilty for spreading online content deemed “obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive”, with intent to “annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person”. He was also fined 30,000 ringgits (Rs 5 lakh).
His lawyer Syahredzan Johan said the judge did not give any grounds for the ruling.
Fahmi was arrested and charged in June 2016 after his drawing went viral. The picture was used during protests against the prime minister in 2016 after allegations that billions of dollars were looted from a sovereign wealth fund that he founded.