Home Ministry’s seizure of 172 Swatch’s Pride watches is deemed “illegal” by the High Court, which mandates their return within 14 days

During today’s hearing, the High Court instructed the Home Ministry to return all 172 Swatch watches, valued at over RM64,000 and associated with Pride, the LGBT rights movement, to the local company of the Swiss manufacturer Swatch Group Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

In May 2023, the Home Ministry searched Swatch shops and took Pride watches. A judge from the High Court, Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh, said this was illegal.

The judge said, “So in this case, the search was done without a warrant, which is illegal, and any seizures made in line with the notices of seizure are also illegal.” He then gave the court order to throw out the Home Ministry’s notices of seizure from May 2023 for the watches.

The judge further stated that since the Home Ministry had not yet banned the Pride watches, Swatch Group’s removal did not violate the law.

“We implemented the ban in this case post-seizure, ensuring the applicant did not violate any laws or orders during the seizure.” The judge ordered the return of all the taken watches within 14 days of the order’s date to rectify the situation.

The judge stated that the company could request money if the returned watches suffered any damage, but there was no court order requiring the government to pay Swatch Group money.

The judge also declared that the watches complied with Section 7 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984. He declared, “Therefore, we do not grant the declaration that it does not meet the requirement.”

The High Court’s decision allows the home minister to use Section 7 to control “undesirable publications” like the seized Pride watches, despite the fact that Swatch Group did not request a ruling on it.

According to Section 7, the Home Minister has the authority to prohibit the printing, importation, production, reproduction, publication, sale, issue, circulation, distribution, or ownership of publications that could harm public order, morality, security, the public interest, or the national interest, shock public opinion, or violate the law.

The judge did not order Swatch Group to pay for its legal fees.

This morning, before the High Court made its decision, Nizam Bashir, the lawyer for Swatch Group, told the court that the company had filed an additional affidavit to bring to the court’s attention an “interview where the highest member of the executive took the position that the respondents were wrong,” but he did not name the government official.

However, the High Court judge declared that he would disregard the statement, basing his ruling on the legal arguments presented by Swatch Malaysia and the Attorney General’s Chambers in this case.

Nizam also asserted that the government’s interpretation of the law would not bind the High Court. The judge further stated that the executive’s comments would not constitute an executable order.

Swatch Group released a supplementary statement on October 11, 2024, discussing the exclusive interview that journalist Mehdi Hasan conducted with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The interview ran online on October 4, 2024.

In an excerpt of the conversation that Swatch Group transcribed, Mehdi asked Anwar about the government raids on Swatch shops and the seizure of the Pride watches. Anwar said, “I disagree with the action.” They know what we told them. There was no order. In other words, this decision was made by that department, and I feel they are going overboard.

Two individuals from Swatch Group were present in the hall during the reading of the High Court’s ruling.

When they met outside of court, the two Swatch Group officials and the company’s lawyers, Nizam and Kee Hui Yee, remained silent about the High Court’s ruling.

When reporters approached federal counsel Mohammad Sallehuddin Md Ali at the court complex, he stated that he would need to find out if the government would be appealing today’s ruling to the Court of Appeal.

From May 13 to 15, 2023, officers from the Home Ministry went into 16 Swatch shops across the country and took the 172 watches, which came in nine different styles.

The company’s website has been advertising six designs from Swatch’s Pride collection, which debuted on May 4, 2023, on 143 of the seized watches. The remaining 29 watches featured three designs from previous Pride collections, which have been available for purchase in Malaysia since June 2, 2022.

Swatch Group (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd brought the case to this court on June 24, 2023, through a judicial review plea.

These four people were named as the top secretary of the Home Ministry, the secretary of the Home Ministry’s enforcement section, the home minister, and the Malaysian government.

In the lawsuit, Swatch Group requested several things from the court: an order to overturn the Home Ministry’s seizure warnings for the 172 watches worth RM64,795; an order requiring the return of all seized watches within five days of the order; and justice.

Swatch Group also asked the court to declare that Section 16(2) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984 only allows officers from the Home Ministry to search Swatch’s stores in “exigent circumstances,” or urgent situations. They also asked the court to overturn the Home Ministry officers’ decisions and actions regarding the searches of Swatch stores and the seizure of the watches.

On August 9, 2023, the Home Ministry published an order declaring it illegal for anyone in Malaysia to import, manufacture, sell, circulate, distribute, or possess any Swatch watches with the word “LGBTQ+” or any other potentially immoral content. On August 10, 2023, the Home Ministry made this order public.

LGBTQ+ stands for the following words: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and + Plus.