Fahmi Reza is just a little too talented for his own good. Or maybe he caught the political mood at the worst possible moment.Ahead of elections later this year, this Malaysian artist and activist was sentenced to jail time and a fine this week following charges that he inked a cartoon that featured Prime Minister Najib Razak in clown makeup. The image went viral during recent protests. Mr. Fahmi’s lawyer says a stay was granted that will keep his client out of jail pending appeal, but he must still pay a fine of RM30,000 (about $7,662). The official charge is posting an image online that is “obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person.”
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Malaysia's Cartoonish Politics
By Willis SparksFebruary 23, 2018
Willis Sparks
Willis Sparks is a senior editor for GZERO Daily. He is also a Director in the Global Macro practice at Eurasia Group, where he has worked since 2005. He has made speeches on international politics on every continent except Antarctica. Willis holds degrees from Brown University, the Juilliard School, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He also holds an honorary degree from the Moscow Art Theatre School. A native of Macon, Georgia, Willis has worked as a stuntman at New York's Metropolitan Opera. As a child, he declined an opportunity to spend an afternoon riding the Great American Scream Machine, a rollercoaster, with Ronald McDonald, for money. He has never regretted that decision.
