DPM Zahid: Win against Sulu claimants meaningful achievement for Malaysia

LocalPolitics
28 Jun 2023 • 4:08 PM MYT
Daily Express
Daily Express

Daily Express Online (Malaysia) is Sabah's top-ranked & most viewed English news site. It is also Sabah's leading & most circulated daily English newspaper.

image is not available

Kuala Lumpur: The victory at the international court of justice in the case over the Sulu group's claim against Malaysia is a meaningful achievement for the country, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Ahmad Zahid in his Facebook post today, also congratulated all those involved which led to the government’s success in defending the rights and sovereignty of the country.

“Congratulations to the Malaysian team headed by its chairman (special secretariat chairman who is also Law and Institutional Reform Minister) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said who had been working hard to ensure that Malaysia's sovereignty will continue to be protected,” he said.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that The Hague Court of Appeal in the Netherlands had dismissed the Sulu claimants’ application for recognition and enforcement of a purported arbitral award of US$14.9 billion (RM62.59 billion) to be enforced in the country.

SPONSORED CONTENT Shell’s Access to Energy helps power lives of isolated communities in Sabah Kota Kinabalu: In 2017, Sabah Shell Petroleum Co Ltd (SSPC) launched Access to Energy (A2E), a Shell Social Investment programme aimed at providing affordable and continuous supply of electricity from renewable sources for communities who live without connection to the electricity grid. Read more The purported final award was issued by a Spanish arbitrator, Dr Gonzalo Stampa, in February 28, 2022 to eight individuals claiming to be heirs of the Sulu Sultanate.

In their bid to enforce the US$14.9 billion final award, the Sulu claimants were reported to have attempted to seize Malaysia’s oil firm Petronas’ assets in Luxembourg, assets in the Netherlands and also targeted Malaysia’s diplomatic assets in France (including part of its embassy).

Earlier, on June 6 the Paris Court of Appeal upheld the Malaysian government’s challenge against enforcing a partial award rendered by Stampa after finding that the arbitrator (Stampa) had wrongly upheld his jurisdiction. ― Bernama

* Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss.

* Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.