KUALA LUMPUR — A Malaysian cartoonist known for lampooning the ruling coalition was charged Friday with nine counts of sedition over a series of tweets criticizing the country's judiciary. The charges against Zulkiflee Anwar Alhaque, better known as Zunar, came amid a widening government crackdown on opposition politicians and the media using the colonial-era law, slammed by critics as a move to stifle freedom of expression. “This is a record, being charged nine times and using the sedition law. It is excessive and targeted at silencing vocal critics,” said Zunar's lawyer, Latheefa Koya. Zunar faces up to 43 years in jail if found guilty on all nine charges, she said. The nine tweets criticizing the judiciary were posted Feb. 10 when opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim began serving a five-year prison sentence after losing his final appeal on a sodomy charge. — AP
