KOTA KINABALU: The final landmark judgment by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands in dismissing the appeal filed by the Sulu claimants is very good news for Sabah and Malaysia, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor.
“The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Malaysia hence putting an end to the claim which Sabah has never recognised in the first place,” he said today.
Hajiji reaffirmed that Sabah’s sovereignty in Malaysia should not be doubted and challenged by anyone.
The Chief Minister was responding to the statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said that the decision by the the Supreme Court of the Netherlands has closed the chapter on the claimant’s attempts to enforce illegitimate claims on Malaysia.
The Sulu heirs failed to enforce a USD 15 billion arbitration award against Malaysia at the Netherlands Supreme Court.
Azalina said the ruling marks a conclusive end to the claimants’ attempts to enforce their illegitimate claims against Malaysia in the Netherlands.
“This remarkable Supreme Court decision endorsed the decision of the Hague Court of Appeal of June 27, 2023, which upheld Malaysia’s challenge against the claimants’ application in the Netherlands to recognise and enforce the purported ‘Final Award,’ rendered in Paris by Dr. Gonzalo Stampa on February 28, 2022,” Azalina stated.
The Dutch apex court’s decision comes after the eight descendants of the Sulu Sultanate failed to enforce their claim at the Netherlands Court of Appeal in June 2023
