Swatch files lawsuit against Malaysian government over seizure of watches from Pride collection
KUALA LUMPUR: Swiss watchmaker Swatch has filed a lawsuit against the Malaysian government and officers from the Home Ministry, following the seizure of rainbow-coloured watches under the brand’s Pride collection in May.
According to the Malay Mail, Swatch is seeking compensation - including in the form of aggravated and exemplary damages - and the return of 172 watches worth RM64,795 (US$14,200).
In its lawsuit filed on Jun 24, the brand reportedly said that it wants the High Court to issue a court order for all the seized watches to be returned within five days of the order.
It also named four respondents - the Home Ministry chief secretary, the Home Ministry’s enforcement division’s secretary, the home minister and the government of Malaysia.
Local media previously quoted a government source as saying that the watches were confiscated as they had the letters “LGBTQ” - referring to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community - inscribed on the faces.
“We seized hundreds of watches and all of them had the ‘LGBTQ’ letters on the face of the watch,” the source was quoted as saying by Free Malaysia Today (FMT).
The watches seized were part of Swatch’s Pride collection. Instead of the seven colours found in a rainbow, the watches featured six colours. One of the most well-known symbols of the LGBT community is the six-colour pride flag.
According to the Malay Mail, citing court documents, Swatch claimed in its lawsuit that the Home Ministry’s officers had acted illegally and irrationally, with procedural impropriety. The officers’ actions were also allegedly disproportionate and for an improper purpose.
Swatch said that it was not given prior notice of any complaints or intended action against the watches, adding that it was not given an opportunity to be heard before the seizures.
It argued that the seized watches did not cause any disruption to public order or morality or any violations of the law. There have been no incidents or disruptions since the older designs were made available in Malaysia in June 2022, the brand was quoted as saying by the Malay Mail.
According to FMT, Swatch said that its lawyers had written to the home ministry last month demanding that the government return the watches, but it did not do so.
“The applicant also contends that the government’s action was done for improper political motives, given the state elections will be held soon.
“The minister was seeking to show his ‘Islamic’ credentials for political purposes,” the company reportedly said.
Polling for the upcoming six state elections - in Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan - will take place on Aug 12.
According to Malay Mail, the company said that its business and trading figures suffered in the immediate aftermath of the seizures for some time.
The case is scheduled to come up in the High Court on Thursday.
Local media previously reported that Malaysia’s Home Affairs Ministry had seized 172 Swatch watches from outlets in 11 shopping malls over three days in May, including outlets in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor, Penang and Kota Kinabalu.
Meanwhile, five outlets in Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah, Johor and Sarawak were given a warning.
According to FMT, the seizure came after netizens connected the watch collection to British rock band Coldplay’s support for the LGBT community.
The announcement of Coldplay’s first concert in Malaysia, to be held this November, had earlier drawn the criticism of a leader from the Islamist party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), who had called for the cancellation of the event in a Facebook post on May 10.
The Facebook post was accompanied by images of lead vocalist Chris Martin holding a rainbow flag - which is used to represent the LGBT community - during a Coldplay performance at the Wembley Stadium in London.
