ZURICH, May 24 (Re?ters) – Rainbow-coloured w?tch?s made by Swatch Group that celebrate lesbian, gay, bise?ual and transgender (LGBT) ?ights ha?e ?een confiscate? by authorities in Malaysia, the company said on Wednesd?y.
Mal?ysia’s ministry of internal affairs seiz?d t?e Swatch watches du?ing raids on May 13 and ??ng h? n? ??p chính hãng 14, it said.
The ministry did not immediately resp?nd to a request for comment.
The watches belong to the Swiss watchmaker’s “Pride collection” which it says was cre?ted to ce?ebrate the pri?e movement and its m?ssage of equality and di?ersity.
Chief Executive Nic? Hayek said he was disappo?nted and concerned.
“We strongly contest that our collection of watches using rainbow colours and having a message of peace and love could be harmful for whomever,” he said in a statem?nt to Reuters.
The rainbow flag is a symbol of the LGBT movement, which sup?orts th? rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.
The company s?id it w?uld t?ke legal action to recover the good?, Swiss newspaper ?ages-Anzeiger reported.
Human r?ghts ?roups and activists have rai?ed concerns o?er Malaysia’s growing intolerance towards the lesbian, ??ng h? n? th?i trang cao c?p gay, LGBT community in recent years.
Last year, the country’s Islamic religious auth?rities questioned 18 people detaine? during a Halloween pa?t? ?ttended by members of the LGBT community.
S?me-sex act? ar? ille?al in Ma?aysia, although convictions are rare.
The country has a dual-track l?gal system, with Islamic criminal ?nd ??ng h? n? ??p chính hãng family laws applicable to Muslims running alongs?de civil laws. (Reporting by John Revil?, Additional reporting by Rozanna Latiff in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Raju G?palakrishnan)
