Malaysia hails French court for setting aside US$15 billion award to Sulu heirs

SULU – Malaysia hailed a French court decision setting aside the US$15 billion (RM69 billion) award in a case brought by eight heirs of the Sultan of Sulu regarding territorial claims related to the mineral-rich Sabah in Borneo, the New Straits Times reported.

Quoting Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, of the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform), the Malaysian newspaper said the Paris Court of Appeal ruled on Tuesday, June 6, that the arbitration court, which mandated Kuala Lumpur to pay the sum to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, the former rulers of the region, lacked jurisdiction in the case.

"The Paris Court of Appeal had upheld Malaysia's challenge against the partial award rendered on May 25, 2020 by Dr Gonzalo Stampa in the case brought by eight claimants, citizens of the Philippines, who are purported heirs of the long-defunct Sultan of Sulu," Azalina said in a statement.

Azalina said the court's decision meant that the claimants could not rely on the award in France for any purpose. "The Paris Court of Appeal found that the arbitrator wrongly upheld his jurisdiction. This decision, which is final and binding, is a decisive victory for Malaysia in its ongoing pursuit of legal remedies, which Malaysia is confident will result in comprehensive defeat for the claimants and their funders," she said.

Malaysia identified the eight descendants of the Sultan Jamalul Kiram as Sultan Muhammad Fuad Kiram I, Nurhima Kiram Fornan, Sheramar Kiram, Permaisuli Kiram-Guerzon, Taj-Mahal Kiram-Tarsum Nuqui, Ahmad Nazard Kiram Sampang, Jenny KA Sampang, and Widz-Raunda Kiram Sampang.

Last year, a French arbitration court ruled that Malaysia must compensate the descendants of the Sulu sultanate for their territorial claim. Malaysia then filed an application in Paris to invalidate the award, while a Luxembourg court had suspended the enforcement of the payment. In March, a Paris court upheld the restraining order obtained by Malaysia, preventing the enforcement of the award, according to the report.

Azalina also said that the Sulu claimants had previously targeted Malaysia's diplomatic assets in France based on this partial award as part of their abusive strategy, which now had to be withdrawn following the court's decision. "This decision implies that the Paris Court of Appeal will annul the purported Final Award in which Stampa remarkably awarded the claimants close to US$15 billion. Malaysia is seeking to have the annulment recorded in a court decision as soon as possible, which should lead to the collapse of the claimants' global enforcement efforts to date," she said.

She added that Stampa had issued the Final Award despite his appointment having been annulled by the same Spanish court that had previously appointed him on the basis that Malaysia had not been properly served ahead of that appointment process. "In defiance of Spanish court orders instructing him to cease acting as arbitrator, in an unprecedented move, Stampa transferred the arbitration proceedings to France and issued his Final Award. Stampa's sustained actions in defiance of Spanish court orders have resulted in a significant abuse of the international arbitration process," the newspaper quoted Azalina as saying.

Azalina said the decision would also put an end to the efforts of the claimants and their funder, Therium, to enforce the unlawful awards and thereby extract windfall damages from Malaysia. She also added that the government would continue to take all necessary actions, including legal actions, to put an end to the claims and to ensure that Malaysia's interests, sovereign immunity and sovereignty were protected at all times.

Lawyer Paul Cohen, the legal counsel of the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, has recently sent a letter to the Attorney-General's Chambers and demanded immediate payment of the purported Final Award of US$16.412 billion. The Special Secretariat on Sulu Claims had condemned the letter, but the Attorney-General subsequently responded to Cohen's letter on May 31, listing all the indisputable facts of the claim.

It added that Malaysia had, on December 14, 2021, filed a criminal complaint before the Spanish Public Prosecutor against Stampa following the blatant disregard to the judicial decisions in Spain by the latter and the claimants. The report said the claimants have attempted to arbitrate this non-commercial matter in a few European countries, namely France, Spain, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. 

There was no immediate statement from any of the eight Filipino heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, but sources told The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper that only their lawyers were authorized to speak on their behalf. 

Marcos will not relinquish territory

The Philippine government has distanced itself from the Sabah claims being pursued by the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, but President Ferdinand Marcos Jr last year said his administration would not relinquish even a square inch of the country's territory. “From what I understand, the case is in the nature of a private claim by the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu with Malaysia. Therefore, it is not an issue of sovereignty or of territory at the moment,” said Trixie Angeles, then Press Secretary.

“The President’s articulation of his statement about not giving up a square inch of territory will have to be reduced into writing and into specifics, after which, we will announce these to you if they are in any way related to the Sabah claim. At the moment, wala pa pong articulation, so we have to wait,” she added.

Angeles was referring to a statement of Marcos during his first State of the Nation Address. The president said while his administration pursues the “friend to all, enemy to none” stance, it would not relinquish even a square inch of Philippine territory.
Marcos said the Philippines will be a good neighbor that will always look for ways to collaborate and cooperate with the end goal of mutually beneficial outcomes. He did not say anything about the historical claims of the Sultanate of Sulu on Sabah.

The Sultanate of Sulu, founded in 1457, continues to lay claim to Sabah which it obtained from Brunei as a gift for helping put down a rebellion on Borneo Island. The British leased Sabah and transferred control over the territory to Malaysia after the end of World War II. The Sulu Sultanate said it had merely leased North Borneo in 1878 to the British North Borneo Company for an annual payment of 5,000 Malayan dollars then, which was increased to 5,300 Malayan dollars in 1903.

The Sultanate of Sulu is believed to exist as a sovereign nation for at least 442 years. It stretches from a part of the island of Mindanao in the east, to Sabah, in the west and south, and to Palawan, in the north. But North Borneo was illegally annexed by Malaysia in 1963 following a referendum illegally organised by the Cobbold Commission in 1962, the people of Sabah voted overwhelmingly to join Malaysia. (Mindanao Examiner)