Malaysia is now North Korea in disguise, claimed political cartoonist Zunar today.

In a statement, Zunar, whose real name is Zulkiflee SM Anwarul Haque, likened the entry ban imposed on Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic (photo) to the travel ban on himself.

"Mural artist barred from entering Malaysia, at the same time, cartoonist barred from going out of Malaysia.

"Zacharevic cannot come in, I cannot go out. Why is the government afraid of artists? We do not carry guns and bombs, only pens and brushes," he said.

The government imposed a travel ban on Zunar, whose works are highly critical of the government, in Oct 2016. He has challenged the ban in Federal Court.

Zunar added that the federal government should be ashamed that it is not on par with the Penang state government, which gives freedom to artists from all over the world to express their artistic views, via programmes like the George Town Literary Festival.

He further urged the immediate lifting of Zacharevic's entry ban.

Yesterday, Zacharevic was reported saying on his Instagram account that he was in Singapore after being denied entry into Malaysia.

According to him, no reason nor the duration was given for the ban.

The work of Zacharevic, 26, who is engaged to a Malaysian model, is prominently displayed in the streets of Georgetown, Penang, but his two other works in 2013 and 2014, earned the ire of the Johor and Perak state governments respectively.

The former was a popular mural of a Lego figure being mugged and the latter, the profile of an old man sipping coffee purportedly resembling the late communist leader Chin Peng.