Azalina to lead fight against claims by so-called Sulu heirs in Europe, says Zambry

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said will head the challenge against claims by the so-called Sulu heirs on Sabah and Malaysia's foreign assets in France and Europe, says Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

"The government has decided to delegate the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Azalina) to take action and go to Europe to handle these cases.

"I will most likely be accompanying her in due time," the Foreign Minister said when wrapping up his ministerial replies on Budget 2023 in Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (March 9).

He revealed that Malaysia aims to challenge the veracity of the group's claim that they were the true descendants of the Sulu Sultanate.

This, he said, includes the Malaysian legal team scouring archives here and in the Philippines and London for documents on the matter.

"What is crucial is whether the claimants are truly the descendants and this is what we are disputing.

"We have started the legal process to challenge this.

"Among the efforts by Azalina is that she has found a few families claiming that they too are from the family of the Sultanate and this means what the claimants have been saying is false," he said.

Zambry described the recent incident as being led by a group of so-called claimants that were going on a "foreign shopping spree" in courts in several countries in an attempt to win a case against Malaysia.

In the incident earlier this week where French bailiffs attempted to enforce a seizure order on three Paris properties owned by the Malaysian Government, Zambry said that Wisma Putra has since issued a diplomatic protest note to France over the matter

"We have sent a protest note including one to the French Embassy here saying 'You cannot do this'.

"This is because any area belonging to an embassy is governed by the Vienna Convention and you can't go into it," he said when responding to a question raised by Sim Tze Tzin (PH-Bayan Baru).

The incident happened following a bid by so-called descendants of a former sultanate to enforce a US$15bil (RM66bil) award they had won against Malaysia in a French arbitration court last year despite a previous stay order.

Malaysia, which did not participate in the arbitration, maintains the process was illegal and has obtained a stay on the ruling in France.

Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal (Warisan-Semprona) suggested that the government put a stop to such claims "once and for all" by taking the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

He said that this was done in the disputed claims over the Ligitan and Sipadan islands off Sabah between Malaysia and Indonesia where the ICJ decided in favour of Malaysia in 2002.

"There must be clear and concrete action to put a full stop to such claims," he said.

Zambry said that he would take Shafie'S suggestion into consideration but noted that both Malaysia and Philippines must agree for the case to be brought to the ICJ.

He said that the issue of the so-called Sulu heirs was brought up by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during his recent visit to the Philippines.

Last month, Luxembourg court bailiffs issued fresh seizure orders for two PETRONAS companies – PETRONAS Azerbaijan and PETRONAS South Caucus in a similar effort.

The company has said the heirs' actions were baseless and that it would continue to defend its legal position.

On Feb 17, PETRONAS said in a statement that claims by the purported Sulu heirs on two of its subsidiaries in Luxembourg were baseless and it would continue to defend its position from a legal aspect.

The claims against Malaysia were initially taken to an arbitration court in Spain which failed.

Malaysia has vowed to take all legal measures to protect its assets worldwide.

Malaysia stopped the payments after a bloody incursion in 2013 by supporters of the former sultanate who wanted to reclaim land from Malaysia.