Swiss watchmaker Swatch has gone to the civil court over the Home Ministry’s nationwide raid and seizure of its Pride Collection watches in various rainbow shades - adopted as the LGBT community symbol.
The Swatch Group (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd on June 24 filed a judicial review leave application over the May seizure of the watches.
It listed as respondents: the home minister (not named); the Home Ministry’s chief secretary, the ministry’s enforcement division secretary; and the government.
According to a copy of the cause papers, the watchmaker seeks among others:
An order of certiorari to quash the seizure notices over the raids conducted between May 13 to 15
A mandamus order to compel the four respondents to return the 172 timepieces within five days of the order date
Damages which include those of exemplary and aggravated nature
Via an affidavit in support, the company’s country manager Martin Issing pointed out that prior to the May raid this year, Swatch was selling watches inspired by rainbow colours and which celebrated ‘Pride’ for some years in Malaysia with no incidence.
The country manager contended that a majority of the seized watches - which come from the 2023 designs - did not contain the words ‘LGBTQ+’ but were merely in several colours of the rainbow.
Issing said that in the older designs, which comprised a minority of the seized watches, only the Stripe Fierce model contained the words ‘LBTQIA2S+’.
Available for some time
He observed that Pride merchandise has been freely available for sale in Malaysia and throughout the world for many years now, with multiple retailers selling products under their own Pride collection, whether digitally or in physical form.
“All this while, the applicant has not received any complaint from any member of the public or any authority regarding the design of any of its Pride collection watches.
“We were never told by the respondents or any officials from the Home Affairs Ministry that the Pride designs were problematic, and we were not given any opportunity to be heard before the seizures were done,” Issing contended.
“When the applicant’s employees and I saw the seizure notices, it was not clear why the watches had been seized. The seizure notices did not clearly state what basis (for the seizure).
“As far as we knew, the picture of a rainbow and the acronym ‘LGBTQIA2S+’ were not banned words in Malaysia.
“The watches did not promote any sexual activity, but were merely a fun and joyous expression of peace and love,” Issing contended.
Making reference to news reports on Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s claim that Swatch does not sell ‘Pride’ watches in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the director countered that certain designs of its ‘Pride’ series are sold there.
Issing pointed out that despite Saifuddin’s claims that the watches were seized as they contained the LGBTQ acronym, the minister appeared to not have published any order in the government gazette in regards to the watch seizure.
Business affected
“By reason of the seizures, I contend that the applicant has suffered loss and damage. The total retail value of the watches seized amounted to RM64,795.
“The applicant’s trading reputation has been damaged as a result of the seizures, and aggravated by the subsequent public statements by members of the government suggesting that Swatch is somehow acting contrary to Malaysian values. This is totally untrue.
“By depriving the applicant of the watches, and having entered into our stores arbitrarily and seized the watches without prior notice, our ability to do business freely is greatly jeopardised.
“Our business and trading figures also suffered in the immediate aftermath of the seizures for some time,” Issing claimed.
He claimed that despite the company’s counsel from law firm Nizam Bashir & Associates having written two letters dated June 9 and 14 to the ministry’s chief secretary and enforcement division secretary requesting the return of the seized 172 timepieces, there was no response from the authorities.
When contacted, a representative from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) representing the government confirmed they have been served copies of the legal action.
The AGC representative also confirmed that the matter is set for hearing before judge Amarjeet Singh of the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday this week. - Mkini
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