Fahmi Reza
Mode of expression: Cartoon
Publication: Online (Twitter)
Region: South East Asia (Malaysia)
Relevant dates: October 2020 (publication of the cartoon), March 2021 (start of the investigation), August 2022 (DNAA issued)
Outcome: Fahmi Reza was discharged, but not acquitted
Judicial body: Kuala Lumpur Court
Type of law: Criminal Law
Themes: Defamation / Reputation / Satire
Rachita Taneja
Mode of expression: Cartoons
Publication: Online (Twitter)
Region: South Asia (India)
Relevant dates: August and November 2020 (publication of the cartoons), December 2020 (petition filed)
Outcome: Pending
Judicial body: Supreme Court of India
Type of law: Criminal Law
Themes: Insult / Contempt of Authorities / Satire
Based on the 2023 World Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders 2023), the situation for journalists is “very serious” in 31 of the 180 countries evaluated by the Index, “difficult” in 42, “problematic” in 55, “satisfactory” in 44 and “good” in only 8 countries. According to a recent UNESCO report (2022), press freedom is trending downward, with approximately 85% of the world’s population experiencing a decline in press freedom between 2017 and 2022. Moreover, antidemocratic governments from across the world are using a growing range of strategies to stifle dissent, from political imprisonment to various forms of ‘civil death’ (Slipowitz and Loldj 2024), including travel restrictions, surveillance, frozen bank accounts and dismissal from employment.
Humor and satire are vital components of democratic debate and can play a crucial role in peaceful protest and expressing political dissent, as pointed out by human rights courts and landmark decisions worldwide. Consequently, it is no surprise that these worrying trends concerning press freedom also have a direct impact on comedians, cartoonists and other artists or members of the public who use humor to convey their views. In July 2021, the Taliban abducted and brutally murdered Nazar Muhammad Khan, known by the stage name Khasha Zwan, a Kandahar prankster whose jokes had become popular via TikTok (Salahuddin 2021). In a widely circulated video, the comic is shown with his hands behind his back, defiantly telling his abductors that they had mustaches (a symbol of bravery in southern Afghanistan) on their backsides. Khasha’s fate is a particularly tragic reminder of the risks faced by comedians and satirists in authoritarian contexts. Aside from physical violence or even death in the most severe cases, more widespread threats include detention, displacement, online and offline harassment and various forms of (self-)censorship.
A particularly frequent method for silencing cartoonists lies in threatening them with criminal charges for defamation, public insult or similar dignitary harms, which may or may not lead to actual incarceration. The recent cases of Fahmi Reza (Malaysia) and Rachita Taneja (India) are a telling example of this – sadly widespread – trend.
Context and legal cases
Malaysia stands out for the sheer number and severity of its legal proceedings and other forms of harassment against cartoonists. Fahmi Reza, one of the country’s most prominent cartoonists, has been repeatedly arrested and investigated under criminal charges of sedition, obscenity and insult of authorities. In March 2021, Reza was investigated by the police for defamation against the Health Minister, Dr Adham Baba, allegedly in connection with a cartoon he had published in October 2020.
The investigation was carried out under both Section 500 of the Malaysian Penal Code (which carries a prison sentence of up to two years for defamation) and Section 223 of Malaysia’s Communication and Multimedia Act. In August 2022, after a 17-month long wait, the Kuala Lumpur court dropped the defamation charges against Reza and issued a Discharge Not Amounting to An Acquittal (DNAA) order. While this was welcome news, the DNAA does not rule out the possibility of future prosecution for the same cartoon.
Similar cases are far from uncommon in India, where in 2020 a law student filed a criminal complaint for contempt of the Supreme Court against cartoonist Rachita Taneja (known under the pen name “Sanitary Panels”), following the publication of three cartoons critical of the same institution. One of the cartoons portrayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a business transaction with former chief justice Rajan Gogoi, while the other two commented on the privileged treatment granted by the Court to right-wing TV presenter Arnab Goswami, who was swiftly granted bail eight days after his arrest over charges of abetment to suicide.
Article 14, Section 2(c) of India’s Contempt of Court Act defines criminal contempt “as any publication that scandalises, lowers or tends to lower the authority of the court,” or “which obstructs the due course of any judicial proceedings or administration of justice.” In Taneja’s case, the charges clearly refer to the former scenario – namely damaging the reputation of the Court and its judges. The proceedings have been pending and repeatedly adjourned since 2020, thus causing considerable strain on the defendants and their legal teams.
Analysis
Both Reza’s and Taneja’s cartoons adopt a deceivingly simple style to convey a compelling political message. By mimicking the layout and phrasing of a “Missing” poster, Reza metaphorically compares Malaysia’s then-Health Minister to a missing person or pet: “Missing! Have you seen this minister? Male 58 years old, gray hair, long tail, likes to drink warm water.”This is a reference to the Minister’s behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic, including his belief that drinking warm water could prevent the spread of the virus. Likewise, in her signature stick-figure style, Taneja metaphorically presents Goswami as Modi’s spoiled child, boasting “You don’t know who my father is” under the protective gaze of two figures personifying the Supreme Court itself and the BJP (India’s ruling party).
Reza and Taneja clearly direct their humor towards powerful public figures, thus exercising their fundamental right to criticize authorities through satire. As discussed in our catalogue entry on defamation cases at the European Court of Human Rights, international free speech standards command the highest level of protection for political speech; in particular, politicians in democratic states are required to be more tolerant to criticism and ridicule compared to a “private” person. Filing defamation lawsuits over satirical commentary on current events evidently falls below this threshold and is bound to have a chilling effect on political debate.
Furthermore, Reza’s and Taneja’s cases are especially worrying, as the cartoonists were targeted with criminal charges. In its General Comment 34, the UNHRC stressed that “imprisonment is never an appropriate penalty” for defamation and joined widespread calls to decriminalize defamation and public insult. Nevertheless, as recently as 2021, 160 countries worldwide still had laws criminalizing defamation, insult and contempt of authorities (Soraide 2022), which are systematically used to intimidate comedians and cartoonists – as also shown by the proceedings against Li Haoshi in China (Young 2023), Kunal Kamra in India (Gunasekar 2023) and Opptertus Fwema in Tanzania (Cartooning for Peace 2022).
Irrespective of what the final outcome of such charges may be, the financial and emotional stress caused by the proceedings often acts as a powerful deterrent against future criticism. As pointed out by media scholar Cherian George with regard to an ongoing “religious insult” lawsuit against Indian cartoonist Swathi Vadlamudi, “it can take years for the legal process to run its course. Until then, the target must endure police questioning, pay legal bills, and cope with uncertainty. If arrested, the accused could be forced to languish in judicial custody […]. The process is the punishment, as one Indian human rights defender once told me” (George 2019).
Sources and further reading:
Cartooning for Peace. 2022. Alert Tanzania – Opptertus Fwema, 23 September. URL: https://www.cartooningforpeace.org/en/soutiens/alert-tanzania-optatus-fwema/
Cartooning for Peace. 2022b. Alert Malaysia – Fahmi Reza, 14 October. URL: https://www.cartooningforpeace.org/en/soutiens/alert-malaysia-fahmi-reza/
Cartooning for Peace. 2021. Alert India – Rachita Taneja, 29 January. URL: https://www.cartooningforpeace.org/en/soutiens/info-india-rachita-taneja/
George, Cherian. 2019. Swathi Vadlamudi: Speaking truth to male power, and paying the price. Red Lines: Studying Cartoon Censorship Around the World, 5 March. URL: https://www.redlines.ink/interviews/gender/
Gunasekar, Arvind. 2023. Chief Justice Opts Out Of Contempt Case Against Comedian Kunal Kamra. NDTV News, 5 January. URL: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/chief-justice-opts-out-of-contempt-case-against-comedian-kunal-kamra-3666627
Reporters Without Borders. 2023. World Press Freedom Index – journalism threatened by fake content industry. URL: https://rsf.org/en/2023-world-press-freedom-index-journalism-threatened-fake-content-industry
Salahuddin, Sayed. 2021. Taliban’s brutal killing of comic actor Khasha sparks fear and loathing in Afghanistan. Arab News, 30 July. URL: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1902406/world
Singh, Valay. 2020. India’s Supreme Court in spotlight over bail for divisive anchor. Al Jazeera, 13 November. URL: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/13/india-top-court-under-fire-for-bailing-out-divisive-tv-presenter
Slipowitz, Amy and Loldj, Mina. 2024. Visible and Invisible Bars: Political imprisonment, civil death, and the consequences of democratic erosion. Freedom House. URL: https://freedomhouse.org/report/free-them-all/2024/visible-and-invisible-bars
Soraide, Rosario. 2022. The “misuse” of the judicial system to attack freedom of expression: trends, challenges and responses. UNESCO. URL: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000383832
UNESCO. 2022. World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development: 2021/2022 Online Report. URL: https://www.unesco.org/reports/world-media-trends/2021/en/global-trends
Young, Jennifer. 2023. China cracks down on stand-up. ForHum: Forum for Humor and the Law, 13 June. URL: https://www.forhum.org/blog/china-cracks-down-on-stand-up/