French Supreme Court rejects Sulu sultan’s heirs appeal against Malaysia

 

Law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said welcomed the ‘momentous victory’ for the rule of law. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

France’s highest civil court has rejected an appeal lodged by self-proclaimed descendants of the Sulu sultanate over an award of nearly US$15 billion, drawing a line under a years-long legal battle with Malaysia.

The Filipino heirs of the last Sultan of Sulu won a US$14.9 billion award in a French arbitration court in 2022 in a long-running dispute over a colonial-era land deal, prompting them to go after global assets belonging to the Malaysian government and state-owned companies.

A Paris court later upheld the Malaysian government’s challenge against enforcing a partial award, with France’s Supreme Court today confirming the decision, reported Reuters.

Law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said welcomed the “momentous victory” for the rule of law, which she said would help preserve the sanctity of international arbitration as an alternative form of dispute resolution.

“This important decision means that the initial basis for the sham ‘final award’ that ordered Malaysia to pay US$15 billion is not recognised under French law,” she said in a statement.

“The Paris Court of Appeal will now proceed, in due course, to annul the so-called ‘final award’ rendered by arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa and will definitively settle the matter in favour of the Malaysian people.”

In May, the Madrid Court of Appeal upheld a Dec 2023 ruling by the Madrid criminal court that found Stampa guilty of contempt of court, confirming his six-month prison sentence and one-year ban from practising as an arbitrator.

Stampa, who had controversially ordered Malaysia to pay US$14.9 billion to the self-claimed heirs of the defunct Sulu sultanate, was charged last December with contempt of court and unqualified professional practice for defying a Madrid court’s decision to annul the Sulu claimants’ case.

The charges were brought by the Spanish public prosecutor’s office, with the Malaysian government as the complainant. Although Stampa had previously been appointed as the arbitrator in the case, the High Court of Justice in Madrid annulled his judicial appointment in June 2021.

However, he continued to hear the case, moving his seat of arbitration to Paris, and in February 2022 instructed Putrajaya, via a French arbitration court, to make the payment to the purported descendants of the last sultan of Sulu.

Stampa ruled that Malaysia had violated an 1878 agreement between the old Sulu kingdom in the Philippines and a representative of the British North Borneo Company that used to administer what is now Sabah.

Under the agreement, the then sultan of Sulu, Sultan Jamal Al Alam, ceded sovereignty over large parts of Sabah to Baron de Overbeck, the then maharaja of Sabah, and British North Borneo Company’s Alfred Dent.

In exchange, de Overbeck and Dent agreed that they and their future heirs were to pay the heirs of the sultan 5,000 Mexican dollars annually.

In 1936, the last formally-recognised sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram II, died without heirs, and payments temporarily ceased until North Borneo High Court chief justice Charles F Macaskie named nine court-appointed heirs in 1939.

Malaysia took over these payments when it became the successor of the agreement following Sabah’s independence and the formation of Malaysia in 1963.

Putrajaya ceased the payments, equivalent to RM5,300 a year, in 2013 after a deadly incursion by armed men into Lahad Datu, along the eastern coast of Sabah. - FMT

System to detect overloaded vehicles in final stages, says minister

 

Transport minister Loke Siew Fook said his ministry would promote the use of trains to transport cargo, especially from the Klang Valley to the east coast. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: 

The transport and works ministries are in the final stages of developing a high-speed weigh-in-motion system to address the issue of road accidents caused by overloaded vehicles.

Transport minister Loke Siew Fook said the installation of the system, particularly at hotspots for accidents involving overloaded vehicles, will ensure a more integrated and modern enforcement.

“We know many accidents occur on the Karak Highway, and we have continuously conducted integrated operations for heavy commercial vehicles.

“One of the recurring issues is overloading, with lorries carrying excessive loads,” he said, responding to Young Syefura Othman’s (PH-Bentong) question during the policy stage debate on the 2025 Supply Bill in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Young Syefura asked about the ministry’s role in reducing the frequency of accidents on the Karak Highway.

Loke said to alleviate traffic congestion on the roads in the long term, his ministry would promote the use of railways for transporting cargo, particularly from the Klang Valley to the east coast.

“Once the East Coast Rail Link project is completed, we will certainly devise a policy to reduce reliance on heavy trucks. This will reduce the use of trucks on the roads,” he said.

Meanwhile, in response to Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden (PN-Alor Setar) on his ministry’s plans to connect railway stations with other public transport in rural areas, and the high demand to upgrade Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd stations, Loke said the Railway Assets Corporation was prioritising station upgrades.

“I agree on the aspect of integration. However, we need cooperation from state governments and local authorities, as only the station falls under the ministry’s jurisdiction, while areas outside do not.

“For example, to build a walkway connecting a KTM station with a bus stop outside would come under the local authorities. So, the local authority needs to proactively approach and liaise with the housing and local government ministry to explore possible upgrades.

“We are actively upgrading public transport integration at stations in the Klang Valley, and I agree that this is also needed across the country in cities like Alor Setar,” he said. - FMT

Court shown 5 videos of events leading to student’s alleged murder

 

Senior police officer Nazri Abdul Razak is charged with the murder of Zaharif Affendi Zamrie under Section 302 of the Penal Code. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

The Ipoh High Court was shown five videos today depicting the events allegedly leading to the death of 17-year-old student Zaharif Affendi Zamrie on Dec 15 last year.

The videos were presented on the second day of the trial of senior police officer Nazri Abdul Razak who is accused of murder.

Bernama reported that the videos were shown after deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz called the third prosecution witness, police forensic investigation officer Nur Fairuz Idris, who had analysed the footage.

The recordings included one of a speeding white Perodua Ativa colliding with a motorcycle, causing the rider to fall onto the road.

Other footage included dashcam videos showing the aftermath of the collision and CCTV footage from two nearby houses.

Fairuz testified that the videos had been retrieved from a CD-R, memory card, two DVD-Rs, and a dashboard camera with a memory card.

He said his team received the recordings from the investigating officer with a request to extract images, resulting in 24 images taken from five separate recordings.

He confirmed these were the images submitted to the court as evidence today.

The fifth prosecution witness, Shahiran Mohamad, a photographer from the Ipoh police headquarters’ criminal investigation and traffic enforcement division, captured 35 images of the accident scene and vehicles involved.

Shahiran said the photos included images of Zaharif and his facial and hand injuries, as well as photos of his body before the autopsy at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital’s forensic unit in Ipoh.

Nazri is charged with the murder of Zaharif Affendi under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

The prosecution is led by Afzainizam alongside Nasrul Hadi Abdul Ghani, V Suloshani and Low Qin Hui, with the defendant represented by lawyers M Athimulan, Mior Faridalathrash Wahid and Aiman Hakim Kamaruzzaman.

The trial before Justice Bhupindar Singh resumes tomorrow. - FMT

Ex-Suhakam officer charged with making 23 false claims

 

The Kota Kinabalu sessions court fixed Nov 27 for case management. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

A former Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) officer claimed trial at a sessions court in Kota Kinabalu to 23 counts of submitting false claims today.

Heflin Dino, 36, was charged with using 23 forged receipts to make claims for Suhakam programmes between 2019 and 2021, The Borneo Post reported.

He was previously an assistant secretary at Sabah Suhakam.

Heflin was charged under Section 471 of the Penal Code for using forged documents and faces up to 20 years in jail and a fine if convicted.

The case was heard before judges Noor Hafizah Salim, Amir Shah Amir Hassan, Marlina Ibrahim, Elsie Primus and Hurman Hussain.

They fixed Nov 27 for case management, and Heflin was released on court bail and two local sureties.

The court also ordered Heflin to report himself at the nearest police station twice a month and to surrender his passport to the court. - FMT

Is it difficult to smuggle things into Malaysia? Not at all according to netizens

 

HOW hard is it for someone to smuggle stuff into Malaysia? Not at all for one netizen who showed in a post on X that the only barrier between Malaysia and Thailand was the Sungai Golok with a width of about 20 to 50 metres.

“That’s about two to three buses,” said Zac, adding that at the rear of the villagers’ homes, they even have a harbour to aid their crossing.

Hence it is no surprise that people are able to easily smuggle horse pills, drugs, rice and subsidised oil. 

“So it looks like this. Even my child can pass it using a bicycle,” said a netizen jokingly. With a couple of floats attached to the bicycle, we do believe it is possible.

However, there are many other means for one to pass over this insignificant obstacle to Thailand and that is obviously through boat.

According to another netizen, the fare to go over to the Golok River night market was just RM3.

Netizen Zack.De.La.Rongak further claimed that during the lockdown period, many Thai citizens went home by crossing the river. Back then, many Tom Yam shops were closed.

“They even have a dry season festival. The port of healing between two countries,” added Zac.

MengkuduMasam said one of his coursemate said he works full time as a smuggler for Siam rice and packet cooking oil. From Malaysia it is the packet cooking oil and from Thailand, it is the Siam rice.

“He waits at the Golok River to load and unload the stuff,” said Mengkudu Masam.

But is it easy for the government of Malaysia to enforce the law over the border? MrP claims it is difficult. 

“If the government wants to take over the land at the edge of the river, all these are within hundreds of km which our finance may not be able to handle,” said MrP.

Above all these statements, another netizen pointed out that the Golok River is the least of our problems. 

“All the focus is on Kelantan. Perak, Kedah and Perlis border Thailand and there are no obstacles being connected by land. This is easier for smuggling. The smugglers there are living peacefully,” said the netizen. —Focus Malaysia