Malaysia loses lawsuit over illegal seizure of Swatch rainbow-coloured Pride watches

KUALA LUMPUR: Swiss watchmaker Swatch has won its lawsuit against Malaysia’s Home Ministry over the illegal seizure of 172 rainbow watches for allegedly promoting LGBTQ values.
In response, the ministry said it plans to comply with the High Court ruling to return the timepieces, which were part of Swatch’s Pride collection and worth over RM64,795 (US$14,545).
“When such a decision or action is taken to court, it is the court that ultimately decides the matter and if the court has made a decision, KDN (Malaysia’s Home Ministry) must respect it,” Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution told reporters on Monday (Nov 25), as quoted by the Malay Mail. 
“Failing to do so could be seen as contempt of court,” Mr Saifuddin said, adding that he will however need to review the court’s full report first before proceeding to return the watches, as reported by local media. 
Earlier on Monday, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh said that the Home Ministry’s raid of Swatch stores last year and the seizure of its watches was illegal as it was made without a warrant. 
Justice Amarjeet also noted that the Home Ministry had imposed the ban on Pride watches only after seizing them, which meant that the Swiss watchmaker had not violated any laws at the time of the seizure. 
“As a consequence, an order is made that all the watches seized are to be returned within 14 days of the date of this order,” he said in his decision.
In the court ruling on Monday, Justice Amarjeet did not grant damages of RM64,795 sought by the Swiss company but noted that the company could file for damages later if the watches were found to be damaged during the seizure, as reported by Free Malaysia Today. 
“This is if the watches are in any way, damaged. For some reason, whenever seizures are made by the enforcement agencies, whatever things that are seized tend to be damaged,” he added. 
When asked if the ministry would appeal the decision, Mr Saifuddin told the media that it was too soon to decide.
Local media previously reported that the ministry had seized 172 Swatch watches from outlets in 11 shopping malls over three days in May 2023, including from boutiques in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor, Penang and Kota Kinabalu between May 13 and May 15, 2023.
This included those in upscale shopping malls such as Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, Sunway Pyramid and Mid Valley Megamall, as reported by the New Straits Times. 
Five outlets in Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah, Johor and Sarawak were given a warning for stocking the watches. 
The watches were confiscated as they had the letters “LGBTQ” – referring to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community – inscribed on their faces.
Instead of the seven colours found in a rainbow, the watches’ design also featured six colours. A well-known symbol of the LGBT community is the six-colour Pride flag.
The Swiss watchmaker filed a lawsuit on Jun 24 against the Malaysian government.
In the lawsuit, it reportedly said that it wanted a court order from the High Court for all the seized watches to be returned within five days of the order while also seeking compensation in the form of aggravated and exemplary damages. 
It also reportedly said that the Home Ministry’s officers had acted illegally and irrationally with procedural impropriety, according to the Malay Mail, which cited court documents.
Swatch Malaysia also said that there was a political agenda behind the seizure in light of the then-upcoming state elections on Aug 12 last year.
“The minister was seeking to show his ‘Islamic’ credentials for political purposes,” the company reportedly said last year, as quoted in Free Malaysia Today. 
It added that some of the models among the 172 seized watches had been sold in the country for more than a year.
According to local media, the Swatch Group (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd named the secretary of the Enforcement and Control Division of the Home Ministry, the secretary-general of the ministry, the minister and the Malaysian government as respondents in the legal action. 
In August, the Home Ministry issued a ban on Swatch watches and accessories containing LGBTQ elements, with authorities saying that the products “may be harmful to morality as well as public and national interest”. 
Under the 1984 Printing and Publishing Act, those who own these timepieces may face a jail term of up to three years, a fine of up to RM20,000 or both.