KUALA LUMPUR – After being hauled up by police for questioning over two caricatures of Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, graphic artist Fahmi Reza insisted that he will not be intimidated.
He said the investigation into the matter is “ridiculous”, with resources wasted over satirical tweets on current issues.
“If the authorities are trying to make me an example to instil fear in other Malaysians to not do what I do, they picked the wrong person,” he told The Vibes.
“I’m going to defend my work and fight for my right to express my opinion by using graphics. I’m not backing down.”
He was questioned at the Putrajaya police headquarters for about two hours today on two images he uploaded to Twitter, on October 3 last year and February 10.
The artist is being investigated for defamation under Section 500 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum jail term of two years or a fine upon conviction.
Fahmi was charged in 2016 over a clown caricature depicting then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
He went to trial, and was sentenced to a month’s jail and fined RM30,000 in February 2018.
The sessions court, however, dropped the charge in October that year.
I'm out! Dah habis jumpa polis. Aku disoalsiasat bawah Seksyen 500 Kanun Keseksaan dan #AktaSakitHati kerana 2 karya poster grafik Menteri Air Suam. Aku dituduh memfitnah Kementerian Kesihatan dengan karya grafik satira aku. Aku akan lawan tuduhan ni. #SatireIsNotACrime pic.twitter.com/8Wfwb1IJwD
— Fahmi Reza (@kuasasiswa) March 10, 2021
Fahmi today said he would rather go through the “painful” legal process that he did between 2016 and 2018 than allow his right to be infringed.
“I will gladly go through it again to defend my right. I am not afraid.”
The poster shared on February 10 depicts Dr Adham drinking water from a glass, with the accompanying caption reading: “Get 70% discount for the mandatory quarantine period for outbound travellers.”
It is a reference to the government’s decision to allow ministers returning from abroad to undergo only three days of quarantine instead of the 10 required for everyone else.
The poster on October 3, meanwhile, shows a similar caricature of Dr Adham, with the caption “Missing! Have you seen this minister?”, in an apparent dig at his absence from the public eye at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. – The Vibes, March 10, 2021
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