Political cartoonist Zunar will be slapped with a record nine sedition charges, purportedly over comments he made over Twitter.

Zunar, whose real name is Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, will be charged at the KL Sessions Court tomorrow, said his lawyer Latheefa Koya.

“We were initially told that he would be charge over his tweets so we assumed that it is only one charge, but the investigating officer today sent me a message to say that it would be nine charges,” she told Malaysiakini when contacted.

Latheefa ( left ) called the nine charges a “punishment” as the total bail needed to be raised for all nine charges would be very high.

“Looking at experience, if the minimum bail for each charge is RM5,000, he will need RM45,000.

“I don’t think Zunar will be able to come up with that kind of money ,” she said.

If Zunar fails the raise the five-figure sum, he will have to go to jail immediately, even before the trial starts.

Zunar appeals for help

Latheefa said the exact offending tweets have yet to be revealed to Zunar’s legal team but it is believed that every charge is for a separate tweet.

“It’s quite crazy... Nine charges is really drastic, I seriously don’t know what content is so seditious,” she said.

On Feb 10, Zunar was arrested by police over his tweets which criticised the Federal Court decision sentencing opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to jail.

He was released three days later on police bail.

Given the hefty bail amount, Zunar is appealing for donations.

"This they are trying to punish me even before the trial is heard," he told Malaysiakini .

Those who wish to help Zunar post bail can contact him through email .

Hounding of Malaysia's 'seditious' cartoonist