KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — The French Supreme Court yesterday fully dismissed a challenge filed by alleged heirs of the defunct Sulu sultanate, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
In a Facebook post, she called it a historic victory for Malaysia, noting that the important decision means the initial basis for the sham Final Award that ordered Malaysia to pay the heirs US$15 billion is not recognised under French law.
“The Paris Court of Appeal will now proceed, in due course, to annul the so-called Final Award rendered by Dr (Gonzalo) Stampa, and will definitively settle the matter in favour of the Malaysian people,” she said.
Azalina welcomed this landmark decision by the French Supreme Court as a momentous victory for the rule of law, which will help preserve the sanctity of international arbitration as an alternative form of dispute resolution.
She also thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for his continued support and unwavering trust in the ongoing effort to uphold Malaysia’s position.
Previously, eight Philippine citizens, allegedly heirs of the defunct Sulu sultanate, filed arbitration proceedings in Spain to seek billions of dollars from Malaysia over Sabah, and a court in Madrid in March 2019 appointed Stampa to be the arbitrator for the Sulu claimants’ case.
Stampa, on February 28, 2022, decided in the claimants’ favour, and the Final Award of US$14.9 billion resulting from the sham arbitration was issued illegally by Stampa to the eight claimants despite the prior annulment of his appointment as an arbitrator by the Spanish court.
In their bid to enforce the US$14.9 billion Final Award, the Sulu claimants were reported to have attempted to seize Malaysian oil firm Petronas’ assets in Luxembourg and assets in the Netherlands, and targeted Malaysia’s diplomatic assets in France (including part of its embassy).
On May 17 this year, Malaysia was notified of the Madrid Court of Appeal’s decision to dismiss Stampa’s appeal and uphold his six-month prison sentence and one-year ban from practising as an arbitrator.
The Madani government had aggressively countered the claim by the eight claimants.
— Bernama
