MALAYSIA is scrutinising all existing measures to counter the Sulu group’s claims in a bid to preserve national sovereignty, the Special Secretariat on Sulu Claims said.

It said the government is also making further checks to ascertain if any of the group’s eight claimants have an affiliation, family ties or heirs to the Royal Sulu Forces (RSF) terrorist group that has been punished by the court in the intrusion case of Lahad Datu in Sabah.

“RSF has been declared a terrorist group by the Malaysian government since April 2022,” the secretariat said in a statement.

Apart from that, the legal actions taken by the claimants so far, especially through the commercial arbitration process, are inappropriate from the legal point of view and directly challenge Malaysia’s sovereignty.

“Any action taken by the claimants through commercial arbitration is mala fide, given that the Sulu side had in 1939, approached the North Borneo High Court for a dispute that arose at that time,” it said.

The secretariat said the Malaysian government insisted that the claimants’ rights and claims were invalid, void and terminated through the exercise of the right to self-determination by the people of Sabah through the consultation of the Cobbold Commission in 1962 and the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963.

Besides, the 1878 agreement, which served as the basis for the arbitration conducted in Spain and France, did not have any arbitration clause and was not a commercial contract.

“The arising dispute involves national sovereignty and Malaysia has never at any time waived its sovereign immunity, and the arbitrator has no authority to resolve the matter brought by the claimants,” it said.

The secretariat said it was also in line with the order issued by the Sabah High Court on behalf of the Malaysian government on January 14, 2020.

“The Malaysian government will not compromise on aspects of national sovereignty and security,” it said.

On March 7, foreign media 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 the Sulu group to enforce a US$15 billion (RM66 billion) award they had won against Malaysia.

On March 9, Foreign Minister Zambry Abd Kadir said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said will be the government’s representative to Europe, including France, to handle the issue of the Sulu group’s claims. – Bernama, March 14, 2023.