The government in Malaysia has banned all rainbow-coloured watches by Swiss manufacturer Swatch, making owning or selling the products punishable by up to three years in prison. The move comes as the LGBTQ+ community in Malaysia faces increasing discrimination and intolerance, in a country where homosexuality is already illegal under colonial-era civil laws.

On Thursday, August 10, the Home Ministry in Malaysia announced the ban on the Swatch Pride watches, saying that they are “subject to the Prohibition Order because they are publications that harm or may harm morality, public interest, and the interest of the state by promoting, supporting, and normalising the LGBTQ+ movement which is not accepted by the general public in Malaysia”.

Owners and sellers of Swatch products, including boxes, wrappers, accessories or other items, with any reference to the LGBTQ+ community now face up to three years in prison and a fine of 20,000 ringgit (approximately €4,000), as Reuters reports.

The ban comes after the country’s Swatch stores were raided by law enforcement units earlier in May, when around 164 Pride watches were seized for bearing “LGBT elements”. As specified in the official documents, the seizures were based on the Printing Press and Publications Act of 1984.

As a consequence, Swatch sued the Malaysian government, claiming that the seizures were damaging to the brand’s reputation, writing that their products “did not promote any sexual activity but merely a fun and joyous expression of peace and love”.

The feud between Swatch and the government in Malaysia comes at a time when the queer community in the country is facing growing intolerance. Earlier in July, activists staged a protest against the state crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights and, as a consequence, eight of them were arrested by authorities and now face charges of illegal gathering, preventing/obstructing the police and holding/displaying offensive placards.

Malaysia is due to hold elections this week, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s progressive coalition – which does not recognise LGBTQ+ rights – going up against an increasingly popular conservative alliance.