The arbitrator who ruled against Malaysia in the Sulu sultanate heirs' case has been found guilty of contempt of court, according to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said.
She added that the Spanish courts had sentenced Gonzalo Stampa to six months in prison and a one-year ban from practising as an arbitrator.
"The efforts by this Madani government in addressing and putting a stop to the Sulu Fraud has not been in vain.
"We persist in the fight for justice, and will continue our efforts to annul the final award," she posted on X.
Malaysia had previously pushed for the Madrid Court to punish Stampa for contempt of court and repeatedly defying court orders annulling his appointment as an arbitrator in the Sulu dispute case.
A group claiming to be heirs of the Sulu sultanate initially sought arbitration in Spain after Malaysia ceased an annual payment of RM5,300 to the Sulu sultanate in 2013. This came after the Lahad Datu incursion in the same year.
Malaysia did not participate in the arbitration process in Spain because it was illegal.
Stampa was appointed by the Spanish courts to act as the arbitrator in the case in 2019, but this was later annulled in 2019.
Despite his appointment being annulled, Stampa still issued a “final award” of US$14.92 billion (about RM63 billion) to the claimants on March 1, 2022, in an arbitration court in Paris, France.
Armed with the award, the claimants have attempted to enforce the final award in France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands by seizing Malaysian assets.
Malaysia in turn mounted legal challenges, which successfully saw the French and Dutch courts rejecting the claimants' bid to enforce the award in their respective countries. - Mkini
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