World Cartoonist Day: From Aseem Trivedi to Zulkiflee Anwar Haque, list of cartoonists who were jailed

Infamous Cartoon Controversies: Several cartoonists faced consequences for their work over the years. This World Cartoonist Day, find out who they were. – By Mahasweta Sarkar  

You have to wonder about the situation of free expression in our country when even cartoonists are imprisoned for their profession. Here are some of the most well-known cases in which cartoonists were jailed for their work:

Aseem Trivedi (India)
Aseem Trivedi was arrested and jailed on the charges of sedition based on two of his cartoons. He faced charges of insulting the National Emblem, National Flag, Parliament and the constitution through his work. His cartoons were on the theme of anti-corruption.

ZUNAR (Malaysia)
Zulkiflee Anwar Haque, aka ZUNAR was arrested and faced up to 43 years of jail under the tough Sedition Act of Malaysia in 2016. His cartoons allegedly insulted Prime Minister Najib Razak. The charges were dropped after the change of Government in Malaysia in 2018.

Zapiro (South Africa)
Political Cartoonist and Visual Columnist Jonathan Shapiro, also known as Zapiro did an infamous cartoon, “Rape of Justice”. The cartoon depicts Jacon Zuma, the President of South Africa, unbuttoning his pants to rape Lady Justice while his political allies are holding her down. That cartoon reportedly brought defamation charges against him.

Mehrdad Ghasemfar and Mana Neyestani (Iran)
In 2006, Mana Neyestani published “How to stop the Cockroaches from making us into Cockroaches?” in a children’s weekly newspaper. Mehrdad Ghasemfar was the editor-in-chief of the publication. Due to the use of Azerbaijani language by the cockroach in the cartoon, it was considered as an insult to Iranian Azerbaijanis. It led to ethnic riots. The Iranian Government shut down the new paper and took both Mehrdad Ghasemfar and Mana Neyestani into custody.

Atena Farghadani (Iran)
Atena Farghadani, Iranian web cartoonist and also, a civil rights activist. Atena was imprisoned for two months. In 2016, she drew cartoons in protest against the Iranian law that sought to criminalize voluntary sterilization and restrict birth control services. Her arrest led to international protests, and she had to be released due to global pressure campaigns.

Chawki Lamari (Algeria)
Chawki Lamari was a cartoonist working in La Tribune, a French-language newspaper. He was arrested, and the newspaper was reportedly closed for allegedly insulting the Algerian flag in his cartoon.