Swiss watchmaker Swatch says Malaysian authorities raided its stores and confiscated 164 watches from its Pride Collection that bears rainbow flag colours.
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Malasia confisca relojes de la “Colección del Orgullo” de Swatch
It said on Tuesday that Ministry of Home Affairs officials raided its outlets in various malls across Malaysia on May 13 and 14 and seized the watches because they “bore LGBT connotations”.
The watches, from Swatch’s Pride Collection, timed for release before next month’s global Pride Month, feature rainbow colours along with messages of peace and love.
“We strongly contest that our collection of watches using rainbow colours and having a message of peace and love could be harmful for whomever,” Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek Jr. said in a statement.
“On the contrary, Swatch always promotes a positive message of joy in life. This is nothing political. We wonder how the Regulatory and Enforcement Division of the Home Affairs Ministry will confiscate the many beautiful natural rainbows that are showing up a thousand times a year in the sky of Malaysia,” he said.
Predominantly Muslim Malaysia criminalises same-sex relationships, with punishments ranging from caning under Islamic laws to 20 years in prison for sodomy under colonial-era civil laws.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution told the AP news agency that he is waiting for a full report on the matter before issuing a statement.
Swatch said it has resumed selling the Pride Collection watches and that its legal department is looking into the seizure.
Malaysian gay rights group Jejaka criticised the confiscation of the watches, saying it showed “a deeply unsettling level of intolerance.”
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