THE dismissal of the Sulu claimants’ appeal by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands further reinforces Sabah’s sovereignty within Malaysia, said Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
Describing the Dutch Supreme Court’s final judgement as "very good news," Hajiji stated that this ruling concludes a claim that Sabah has never acknowledged.
"The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Malaysia, putting an end to a claim that Sabah has never recognised," he said in a statement in Kota Kinabalu today.
Hajiji emphasised that Sabah’s sovereignty should never be questioned or challenged.
The chief minister’s remarks follow a statement by Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform), who stated on Facebook that the decision in the Netherlands has effectively closed the chapter on the claimants’ attempts to enforce illegitimate claims against Malaysia.
The Supreme Court of the Netherlands upheld the decision of The Hague Court on June 27 last year, which supported Malaysia’s challenge against the claimants' application in the Netherlands to recognise and enforce a purported final award by Spanish arbitrator Dr. Gonzalo Stampa in Paris on 28 February 2022.
Stampa had ruled in favour of the Sulu claimants, awarding them a sum of US$14.9 billion in the Paris Arbitration Court on February 28, 2022.
The Sulu claimants sought compensation for land in Sabah, basing their claim on a lease granted to their ancestors by a British trading company in 1878. Malaysia has consistently deemed the claim illegal. – September 7, 2024.
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