Malaysia has arrested a cartoonist for sedition over a tweet that allegedly criticized the country’s judiciary for upholding a five-year jail term for opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who had accused the courts of "bowing to the dictates of the political masters."

Anwar began a five-year prison sentence Tuesday after the country's top court ruled there was overwhelming evidence showing that he committed sodomy, which is illegal in Malaysia. The case was widely seen as politically motivated to eliminate any threats to the ruling coalition, whose popularity has been eroding after more than five decades of dominance.

Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque, better known as Zunar, was arrested Tuesday night after Malaysia's police chief ordered an investigation into his Malay-language tweet that was posted that day and allegedly suggested that judges had been paid off by politicians.

"Profits from the lords of politics must be lucrative," read the tweet, in part.

Prime Minister Najib Razak's government has rejected any suggestion of interference in the case, saying that Malaysia has an independent judiciary and that there have been many rulings against senior government figures.

Zunar, 52, was to be detained until Friday to allow the police to investigate, official news agency Bernama said Wednesday.