Swatch's collection of colorful watches has been banned in Malaysia for being "harmful to morality" for "supporting and normalizing the LGBT movement"
The justice of Malaysia ordered authorities on Monday to return more than 170 watches of the Swiss multinational Swatch with rainbow colors, representing the collective LGTBI, which was seized in May 2023 for “go against morality", the government confirmed.
El Interior Minister Saifuddin Nasution, he said in statements to the media that “respect the decision” issued by the Kuala Lumpur High Court, but they will study the text before taking the steps for a hypothetical appeal.
The court gave the Home Ministry 14 days to hand over the watches, valued at RM64.795 (13.915 Euros), ruling that the seizure was illegal as it lacked a “search warrant”, details the news portal Malaysiakini.
Although the decision was not accompanied by financial compensation, the ruling states that Swatch could file a new lawsuit to seek compensation if the watches had been damaged.
Up to three years in prison for wearing a watch
In May last year, the police seized 172 watches from eleven stores in Swatch in the country due to its connection with the celebrations of LGTBI pride, a measure then criticized by human rights groups.
The Swiss company filed a lawsuit a month later, seeking the return of the confiscated watches and arguing that the watches did not pose any risk to public order, morality or any other law.
Following this episode, the Malaysian government banned watches with the rainbow flag. LGTBI by "go against morality”, with penalties of up to three years in prison and fines of up to 20.000 ringgit (4.296 euros) for carrying them.
Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and sodomy is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. In the last decade, discrimination against people LGTBI has worsened, according to reports from human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Global Trans Rights.
