PETALING JAYA: Police raided the office of political cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Alhaque, or Zunar, yesterday and seized copies of his books.

The artist, who is in London, tweeted: “Police in my office, looking for me. But I currently in London. So they are taking all my books.”

It is still unclear if the raid and seizures are related to an ongoing police investigation against Zunar, who in 2010 was detained for two days under the Sedition Act. He currently faces possible charges under the same act.

One of his earlier tweets dated Jan 26 said he was due to speak at the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge. He also tweeted that he gave a talk entitled “To fight through cartoons” in London, in an event organised by the Monsoons Book Club.

Two policemen had come to Zunar’s office, which shares the same premises as PKR’s official party newsletter, Suara Keadilan, yesterday at around 10.30am.According to a staff member working at Suara Keadilan, those working in the office did not cooperate when asked to give statements by the officers. At 11.15am, four more police officers came and began asking questions and seizing the books, the worker told The Malaysian Insider.

Zunar tweeted again yesterday afternoon that 149 books had been seized. They were both the English and Bahasa Malaysia versions of Conspiracy to Imprison Anwar and Pirates of the Carry-BN.

In another tweet, he criticised the police’s actions, saying “Kalau kartun dirasa fitnah, silakan orang yg terasa itu kemuka saman sivil. Tiada masalah. Saya bantah guna undang2 jenayah spt akta hasutan.” (If the cartoons are defamatory, those who feel aggrieved should file a civil suit. No problem. I oppose the use of criminal laws like the Sedition Act.) — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 29, 2015.