Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“A Malaysian court has ordered the government to return dozens of Swatch watches seized by authorities over their designs celebrating LGBTQ pride. The Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday ruled that the Ministry of Home Affairs should return the 172 rainbow-themed watches after finding that they had been seized illegally without a search warrant. Authorities confiscated the watches, worth about $14,000, during raids at 11 shopping malls in May last year, later citing the timepieces’ ‘LGBT elements.’ The court ruling comes after Switzerland-based Swatch filed a lawsuit arguing that the watches did not promote sexual activity but ‘peace and love.'” (11/25/24)