THE Spanish court’s decision to sentence Gonzalo Stampa to six months jail for contempt revealed the arbitration order made by the rogue arbitrator was fraudulent and had elements of rapaciousness, said Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
He said the Sabah Government had constantly maintained the claims of the Sulu heirs as baseless and hoped the decision of the Criminal Court of Madrid against Stampa would put to an end the fraudulent claim.
“Finally, it was proven that the claim of the heirs of the Sulu Sultanate is baseless and clearly there are elements that it was done for financial gains and other benefits.
“The Sabah government had from the start maintained the Sulu claim as baseless. (With this decision) the people of Sabah and the government are happy and will put to an end these claims,” said Hajiji to reporters after witnessing the handover of Heads of Agreement between Sabah Energy Corporation and Esteel Enterprise Sabah Sdn Bhd for the supply of 150 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas in Kota Kinabalu, today.
Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman announced on her social media that Stampa had been sentenced to six months jail for contempt of court.
"Congratulations to all Malaysians! Rogue arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa has been found guilty of contempt of court and has been sentenced by the Spanish courts to six months in prison together with a ban from practising as an arbitrator for a year.
"The efforts by this Madani government in addressing and putting a stop to the Sulu Fraud has not been in vain. We persist in the fight for justice, and will continue our efforts to annul the Final Award," she said on platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Gonzalo was charged with "unqualified professional practice" after controversially ordering Malaysia to pay US$14.92 billion to the self-proclaimed heirs of the so-called Sulu Sultanate.
On June 29, 2021, the Madrid High Court of Justice issued a judgement, in accordance with its legal precedent, stating that Malaysia, as a foreign state, had been improperly summoned in the arbitrator appointment proceedings.
The court invalidated Stampa's appointment, along with all his procedural actions, and mandated a proper summons for Malaysia, requiring a restart of the arbitral proceedings.
The Spanish Constitutional Court later upheld the annulment of Stampa's appointment following an unsuccessful appeal by a few Filipino citizens. Stampa, a Spanish arbitrator involved in a legal case concerning Malaysia and the Sulu Sultanate heirs, had his actions deemed significant, potentially annulling all decisions made by him.
The case against Stampa was viewed as a crucial step in addressing what the Malaysian government deemed as fraudulent and unfounded claims against the country by the self-proclaimed heirs of the Sulu Sultanate.
Meanwhile, Sabah Minister of Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe mentioned that the government's efforts to settle the claims of the Sulu group and the imprisonment of Stampa are greatly assisting in attracting more investors to Sabah.
He stated that the group's previous claims had raised security concerns for investors, especially those considering investments in the eastern coastal areas of Sabah.
"When I went to Japan, I was asked about the safety in the eastern coast of Sabah. Therefore, I hope Datuk Seri Azalina can find a definitive solution to this claims issue so that it will reduce and eventually eliminate security concerns there.
“This way, we can attract more investors, especially from abroad, to come to the eastern coast of Sabah. While the western coast of Sabah has received many positive responses, we need to work even harder to attract investors to the eastern coast," he said. - The Vibes, January 9, 2024
