THE Malaysian government is set to take legal actions against the purported Sulu heirs who are claiming Sabah and their funders, Azalina Othman Said said today.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) said Putrajaya was taking legal steps against the eight people who claimed to be heirs of the Sulu sultanate and the company funding the group.

She however refused to reveal more details on this course of action.

She said this was the government’s attitude in “going all out” to protect the sovereignty of the country.

“We will sue them. We will make them responsible for all the costs (expenses incurred) by the government in defending our rights in the case,” she told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

“The government is doing that. However, I cannot tell you the details of what we will do next,” she said.

“As far as we are concerned, we are going all out to make sure the truth is told,” she added.

Putrajaya said in a statement yesterday that it had secured a landmark victory in the Paris Court of Appeal to set aside the partial award in a case brought upon by the purported heirs of the long-defunct Sultanate of Sulu.

The appellate court had upheld Malaysia’s challenge against the partial award rendered on May 25, 2020, by Dr Gonzalo Stampa in the case brought by the eight claimants, who are citizens of the Philippines.

Azalina said the decision meant that the claimants cannot rely on the partial award in France for any purpose as it casts a spotlight on the legitimacy of the group’s claims.

She also accused the claimants and the company funding the group of forum shopping in their effort to pressure the government with their exorbitant demands.

“If they (claimants) feel that their claim is legitimate, they should let the matter be resolved by the courts in Spain since they claim the award of arbitration was given by the courts there.

“Instead of waiting for the outcome from Spainish courts, they (claimants) are jumping from one ‘forum’ to another.

“It is quite obvious that you (the claimants) do not want the people to know the truth,” she said. – June 7, 2023.