Swatch Group said it is disappointed and concerned over the seizures of rainbow-coloured watches celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights by the Home Ministry.
"We strongly contest that our collection of watches using rainbow colours and having a message of peace and love could be harmful for whomever," its CEO Nick Hayek said in a statement to Reuters.
Quoting the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, Reuters also said the Swatch group would take legal action to recover the goods.
Yesterday Hayek confirmed the raids on May 13 and 14 and the seizures of numerous watches to financial daily The Edge.
Hayek denied any political motives for the watches.
It was reported that Home Ministry officers raided Swatch stores at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, One Utama, Sunway Pyramid, Setia City Mall, Mid Valley Megamall, Southkey, Sunway Putra Mall, Sogo KL, Queensbay, Fahrenheit 88 and Suria Sabah.
Further, another five stores received warnings - KTCC (Terengganu), Aeon KB, Aman Central Kedah, City Square and Viva City Kuching.
The rainbow watches belong to the Swiss watchmaker's "Pride collection", created to celebrate the pride movement and its message of equality and diversity.
The rainbow flag symbolises the LGBT movement, which supports the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.
While many global brands and retailers have an annual range of rainbow-themed items released in conjunction with pride month every June, such products are typically not made available in stores in Malaysia or other Muslim-majority countries with a strong stand against the LGBT community. - Mkini
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