KUALA LUMPUR – Heirs of the defunct Sulu Sultanate have not given up yet as they are petitioning The Hague Court of Appeal for authorisation to seize assets owned by the Malaysian government and state-linked companies.
Lawyer Paul Cohen, representing the heirs, said this is to enforce the US$15 billion (RM67.5 billion) award granted to them by a French arbitration court in February, reported Reuters.
However, Malaysia had received a stay on the US$15 billion award in July after an appeals court in Paris found its enforcement could infringe on the country’s sovereignty, said law minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
In the petition shared by Cohen, it stated that the heirs want a “recourse against assets of Malaysia, which are located in the Netherlands”, but Reuters was unable to verify the document.
“This filing in the Netherlands will soon be followed by other enforcement actions, of varying types, in multiple jurisdictions.
“This may include immediate, direct attachment of specific Malaysian assets in The Netherlands and elsewhere,” he said in an emailed statement.
Last month, former attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas suggested that Malaysia should go on the offensive in the United Kingdom to apply for contempt of court or in personam orders against Cohen to stop him from “court-shopping” on behalf of the Sulu claimants.
He added that Malaysia can take similar actions against arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa who had disregarded the Spanish court’s decision to revoke his appointment.
Thomas told the media at a Concorde Club talk here that courts in Spain, France, and Luxembourg should have set aside the applications as there is no arbitration clause in the 1878 agreement.
The 1878 agreement was signed by then Sulu sultan Jamal Al Alam, then maharaja of Sabah Baron de Overbeck, and British North Borneo Company’s Alfred Dent.
On February 28, Stampa awarded US$14.92 billion to the Sulu claimants, while in June the bailiffs in Luxembourg had seized Petronas subsidiaries in the European country as part of the award.
Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry and Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had also issued a statement saying the government does not recognise the claim.
In a joint statement, the ministry and AGC said that Malaysia did not participate in the purported arbitration proceedings, and that Malaysia has never waived its sovereign immunity.
The issue came about after Malaysia stopped the annual payment of RM5,300 to the heirs following the 2013 incursion in Lahad Datu, Sabah.
The mastermind of the attack was recognised as an heir of the Sulu sultan. – The Vibes, September 30, 2022
