Dwelling Minister says authorities will await court docket’s full judgement earlier than deciding on subsequent transfer.
A Malaysian court docket has ordered the federal government to return dozens of Swatch watches seized by authorities over their designs celebrating LGBTQ pleasure.
The Kuala Lumpur Excessive Court docket on Monday dominated that the Ministry of Dwelling Affairs ought to return the 172 rainbow-themed watches after discovering that they’d been seized illegally and not using a search warrant.
Authorities confiscated the watches, price about $14,000, throughout raids at 11 buying malls in Could final 12 months, later citing the timepieces’ “LGBT components”.
The court docket ruling comes after Switzerland-based Swatch filed a lawsuit arguing that the watches didn’t promote sexual exercise however “peace and love”.
Malaysian Dwelling Minister Saifuddin Nasution informed a information convention that the federal government revered the court docket’s resolution and would look forward to the total judgement earlier than making a choice on its subsequent transfer.
Swatch Group Chief Govt Officer Nick Hayek condemned the raids on the time, asking sarcastically whether or not the Malaysian authorities would additionally confiscate “the various stunning pure rainbows” that seem within the sky.
Malaysia criminalises same-sex sexual exercise beneath each its civil code and Islamic legislation, which regulates the lives of the Southeast Asian nation’s Malay-Muslim majority.
In July 2023, the federal government cancelled the Good Vibes music competition in Kuala Lumpur after Matty Healy, the lead singer of UK rock band The 1975, kissed certainly one of his male bandmates onstage.
In October 2022, non secular police raided an LGBTQ-friendly Halloween occasion within the capital’s Chinatown, arresting 20 Muslim males for cross-dressing.
