KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has obtained a final landmark victory at the Netherlands Supreme Court, which dismissed the appeal filed by the Sulu claimants.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said in her social media posting said the Supreme Court decision, which is final and authoritative, bringing an end to the group's attempts to enforce their illegitimate claims against Malaysia in the Netherlands.

"This remarkable decision endorsed the decision of the Hague Court of Appeal of June 27, 2023, which upheld Malaysia's challenge against the Sulu Claimants' application in the Netherlands to recognise and enforce the purported 'Final Award', rendered in Paris by Dr Gonzalo Stampa on Feb 28, 2022," she said.

In January, Spanish arbitrator Dr Gonzalo Stampa, who controversially ordered Malaysia to pay US$14.92 billion (RM70.19b) to self-claimed heirs of the defunct Sulu Sultanate, was found guilty of contempt of court.

On Nov 6 last year, the French Court annulled the order of the rising of statue to be mortgaged against a Malaysian Diplomatic building in Paris by a self-claimed Sulu group from the Philippines.

Previously, eight citizens of the Philippines, who claimed to be heirs of the defunct Sulu sultanate, had filed for arbitration proceedings in Spain to seek billions of US dollars from Malaysia over Sabah and a court in Madrid, Spain had in March 2019 appointed Gonzalo Stampa to be the arbitrator for the Sulu claimants' case.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-courts/2024/09/1102332/dutch-supreme-court-dismisses-sulu-claimants-appeal-landmark-win