KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia has expressed its concern on the attempt by any parties to undermine and disrupt the course of criminal proceedings currently ongoing against Spanish arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa.
Describing the motion filed on December 4 as “frivolous” and “vexatious”, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the “guerilla attempts” are nothing more than the latest charade in the “Sulu fraud”, to subvert the rule of law.
“These forms of baseless and desperate moves before the criminal trial of Mr Stampa, to exert pressure on the government of Malaysia, Spanish courts and Public Prosecutor are, as such, should be viewed as an additional fraudulent procedural activity.
“The apparent sole purpose is to interfere and deflect from the ongoing criminal proceedings in Spain against Mr Stampa.
“To recall, Mr Stampa is a defendant in the criminal proceedings in Spain brought by the Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office and Malaysia. Mr Stampa is accused of the suspected criminal offences of serious contempt of court and unqualified practice of a profession,” she said.
Azalina however, neither names the parties involved in the December 4 motion nor divulged contents of the said “opposing” motion.
The government, she said, has the utmost respect for the Spanish courts and their rulings and categorically refutes any media reports that suggest otherwise.
“Throughout this case, Malaysia has acted in order to preserve its rights as a sovereign state in response to consistent egregious activity from the Filipino citizens and their legal representatives.”
Stampa is set to face charges at the Madrid Court tomorrow after it had carried out their own investigation on him, and if found guilty, he faces a jail sentence and fine.
“The government of Malaysia has the utmost confidence in the Spanish judicial system in delivering justice to the 32 million Malaysians.
“The courts of Spain, France and The Netherlands have already confirmed Malaysia’s overall position concerning the Sulu case and regarding the Purported Final Award issued by Mr Stampa on February 28, 2022 (which condemned Malaysia to pay US$14.9 billion, about RM69.5 billion).
“The high court declared the annulment of Mr Stampa’s appointment as arbitrator and ordered him to put an end to the proceedings because his only title to act as arbitrator was null.
“Mr Stampa, who collected more than US$2.5 million from the alleged Sulu heirs (financed by a litigation funder, Therium), knowingly refused to comply with those orders,” she said.
In turn, Azalina pointed out that the courts in France and The Netherlands declared in June that Malaysia never submitted to arbitration and therefore the “sham arbitration” should have never taken place.
“The attempts of the Filipino citizens to enforce the purported arbitral awards issued by Mr
Stampa in both France and The Netherlands have also been unsuccessful to date, as a result of the decisions by the courts of these countries.
“These court rulings confirm that, since their very inception, the Sulu fraud and the purported arbitration have been nothing more than a well fabricated but completely flawed and baseless extortion attempt on the people of Malaysia.”
She added that the government shall ensure that the sovereignty, security and the interests of Malaysia are protected and upheld at all times.
Malaysia is in the process of annulling the US$14.9 billion awarded by Stampa to eight individuals who claim to be the heirs of the defunct Sulu Sultanate.
Previously, eight citizens of the Philippines, who claimed to be heirs of the Sulu sultanate, had filed for arbitration proceedings in Spain to seek for billions of US dollars from Malaysia over Sabah and a court in Madrid, had in March 2019 appointed Stampa to be the arbitrator for the Sulu claimants’ case. – December 10, 2023