KUALA LUMPUR – The high court here has granted Swatch Malaysia leave to commence its legal challenge against the government over the raids and seizure of 172 watches from the company’s Pride Collection series.
Judge Amarjeet Singh allowed the judicial review leave application by Swatch Group (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd after the appellant’s lawyer Nizam Bashir told the court that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had no objections to the application.
According to media reports, senior federal counsel Farah Shuhada Ramli, who confirmed the lack of objection from the AGC, represented the four respondents targeted by Swatch: the home minister, the Home Ministry’s secretary-general, the ministry’s enforcement division secretary and the federal government.
The civil court then fixed September 6 for case management of the legal action.
On June 24, Swatch filed the leave application for a judicial review seeking for the government to issue an order to quash the seizure notices issued to various Swatch outlets between May 13 and 15 as well as an order to compel the four respondents to return the confiscated timepieces within five days of the order date.
The company is also seeking a court order for compensation, including in the form of aggravated and exemplary damages.
Company director and country manager Martin Issing, via an affidavit in support of the application, also highlighted that the company had not received any complaint from the public or authorities regarding the design of its Pride Collection watches.
He contended that a majority of the watches seized, which was part of the brand’s collection launched in May 2023, did not contain the words “LGBTQ+” and was merely in several colours of the rainbow.
He said Pride merchandise had been freely available for sale in Malaysia and globally for many years now, with multiple retailers digitally and in physical form selling products that are part of a Pride collection.
He added that the company was not told by the respondents that the designs were problematic, nor were they given any opportunity to be heard before the seizures were carried out.
Noting that the total retail value of the watches seized amounted to RM64,795, he said that the company’s reputation had been damaged by the seizures, with the situation aggravated by subsequent public statements from government officials “suggesting that Swatch (is) somehow acting contrary to Malaysian values”.
On August 10, the Home Ministry gazetted a prohibition order against Swatch watches containing elements of LGBTQ+, citing Section 7 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
As a result of the ban, any individual caught printing, importing, producing, publishing, selling, or being in possession of the watches may be charged with three years of imprisonment, a fine of no more than RM20,000, or both.
Yesterday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail defended the ministry’s actions against the timepiece brand, citing formal complaints from the public. – August 23, 2023
