Sulu case: In Madrid, justice begins for M’sians - Azalina

 

The Madrid Criminal Court will commence its hearing against Spanish arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa, who ordered Malaysia to pay US$14.92 billion (RM62.59 billion) to the self-proclaimed heirs of the defunct Sulu Sultanate last year.

“Today is an important day for Malaysia,” said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Azalina Othman Said.

Expressing “full faith in the Spanish justice system”, she described the criminal prosecution as representing the “beginning of justice for the 32 million Malaysians who are the real victims of this US$14.9 billion fraud”.

“Stampa faces criminal charges of serious contempt of court and for unqualified professional practice, brought by the Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office and Malaysia, because he openly and knowingly disobeyed several binding orders from the Madrid High Court of Justice.

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“Stampa, had been told many times he had been revoked as the arbitrator, yet still decided to pronounce an arbitral award after moving the seat to Paris.

“He was paid over US$2,500,000 (RM11.7 million) for this decision. His actions are without precedent in the international arbitration system,” she added on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Gonzalo Stampa

Prior to this, Azalina (above) had expressed concern over the outcome of the Stampa case, noting how the arbitrator was an influential figure.

“His father is a renowned individual who was involved in Spain’s independence…His father and family are very influential,” she said.

Yesterday, Azalina highlighted Putrajaya’s concern that certain parties were attempting to use “guerilla tactics” to disrupt the proceedings.

“The recent guerrilla attempts, as observed in the media that the motions filed on Dec 4 (in relation to the criminal case), are nothing more than the latest charade in the ‘Sulu fraud’ to subvert the rule of law," she said, without elaborating on the motions.

The minister said it was a “baseless and desperate” move to exert pressure on the Malaysian government and Spanish courts ahead of the case.

"As such, it should be viewed as an additional fraudulent procedural activity.

“The apparent sole purpose of it is to interfere and deflect from the ongoing criminal proceedings in Spain against Stampa," she added. - Mkini