Malaysia hopes Madrid Court will sentence Stampa for 'Sulu fraud'

 

The Malaysian government is hoping that the Madrid Court will on Dec 11 sentence Spanish arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa who is facing charges of “unqualified professional practice” after controversially ordering Malaysia to pay US$14.92 billion (about RM70 billion) to self-proclaimed heirs of the defunct Sulu sultanate.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Azalina Othman Said said she was a little apprehensive about the trial because Stampa is a very influential individual in Madrid.

The Madrid Court had carried out its own investigations and filed charges against Stampa and, if found guilty, he faces a jail sentence and fine.

The date for the hearing was set following persistent and aggressive demands by the Malaysian government.

"His father is a well-known person; in fact, he (father) was involved in the independence process of Spain, was involved in the revolution during that time, and was also a lawyer, meaning his father and family were very influential people.

"We hope there won’t be any negative pressure during (the trial) because it was clear that he (Stampa) had breached the laws of Spain,” she told Bernama after appearing as a guest on the ‘Ruang Bicara’ programme aired by BernamaTV for ‘A year With Malaysia Madani government' at Wisma Bernama yesterday.

Spanish arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa

Azalina said she, the attorney-general, and a number of international officers will be in Spain to attend the trial held at the Madrid Court.

According to Azalina, the trial and sentence involving Stampa were important because of his action to award the said amount to the defunct Sulu sultanate.

"Although his services as an arbitrator had ended, he had continued to carry out international arbitration cases by shifting his base to different countries before deciding against the Malaysian government.

"...the award, I do not refer to it as Sulu award but Sulu fraud; they go to many European countries, because in Europe when they see an award from the arbitrator, they regard it as legal. That is why we must revert to Madrid where the first award was declared.

"Therefore, we want the Madrid Court to sentence Stampa for the criminal charges and for the crime against the sovereignty of Malaysia, and this will be a victory because he moved to another country to persecute Malaysia,” she said.

Azalina said the Sulu case is an example of Malaysia not being equipped with laws on the immunity of the country.

She added that what happened was that Malaysia as a country became a victim of the Sulu fraud, which involved a fraudulent court process involving international arbitration... and fraud by the appointed arbitrator.

“At that time we were not ready, our country was also not stable. So, they took the opportunity. That is why we tabled the State Immunity Bill which aims to provide immunity to foreign countries from civil proceedings in Malaysian courts subject to the immunity restrictions provided, for first reading in Dewan Rakyat on Nov 29,” she said.

- Bernama