PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), March 8 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia maintains that it does not recognise the purported commercial arbitration instituted by Sulu Claimants and will continue to vigorously defend its sovereignty through the appropriate legal forums, said the Special Sulu Secretariat.
The secretariat said this in response to recent media headlines referring to the purported seizure or attempted seizure of the Embassy of Malaysia in France by the Sulu Claimants through French bailiffs.
“Preliminary legal advice rendered to Malaysia suggests that the bailiffs were instructed by the Sulu Claimants to obtain a description of the respective premises, on the basis of the statutory mortgage registered on the premises on Nov 3, 2022, on an authorisation order granted on an ex parte basis from the Paris Court of First Instance.
“This is based on the purported Partial Award dated May 25, 2020 and the subsequent Exequatur Order dated Sept 29, 2021 which are being challenged by the Government of Malaysia in various proceedings in France and other jurisdictions,” it said in a statement Wednesday.
The secretariat said it was made to understand that on Monday morning (March 6), individuals presenting themselves as bailiffs approached the Embassy of Malaysia located at 4 rue Bénouville, and the front of the staff residence at 48 and 50 rue de la Faisanderie.
“They requested access into the respective premises to survey the premises, on the reason to obtain a description of the properties.
“The diplomatic staff at the respective premises told the bailiffs this is not possible and turned them away. The bailiffs left shortly after,” it said, adding that the visit by the bailiffs was not an attempt to seize the properties.
Moving forward, the secretariat said it is Malaysia’s intention to summon the Sulu Claimants to appear before the court which granted the authorisation order to obtain the cancellation of the registration of the mortgage.
The statutory mortgage is not an enforcement measure per se, it said.
“Malaysia maintains that the premises of any diplomatic mission shall be inviolable and shall be immune from any search, requisition or attachment under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” it added.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that French bailiffs had attempted to enforce a seizure order on three Paris properties owned by the Malaysian Government there following a bid by descendants of a former sultanate to enforce a US$15 billion award they had won against Malaysia.
The Sulu Claimants previously had been reported as having filed legal action through the Spanish Court to seek compensation for land in Sabah which they claimed had been leased by their ancestors to a British trading company in 1878.
They brought the matter for arbitration in Spain in 2019 and subsequently arbitrator Dr Gonzalo Stampa, who was appointed by the group, made a decision favouring the claimants.
The decision was used in an attempt to seize Petronas assets in Luxembourg.
Malaysia has used all available legal remedies to nullify the two awards given by Stampa to the claimants.
