KUALA LUMPUR: Paul Cohen is not stopping in his legal fight against Malaysia over the almost US$15 billion awarded to the self-claimed heirs of the now-defunct Sulu sultanate.
This is despite Dr Gonzalo Stampa, the Spanish arbitrator who awarded the sum to the claimants, being jailed for contempt in his native country.
Cohen, the claimants' chief counsel, said Stampa's imprisonment does not at all affect their claims as the case was in France, where the Spaniard had moved it after the courts in Spain had nullified his appointment as arbitrator.
"You can understand why Stampa chose to move it, given that the (Spanish) court has apparently criminalised serving as an arbitrator," he told the New Straits Times.
Asked whether the claimants would continue with their bid, Cohen replied that they would, for the sake of getting what they deserved.
"Yes, of course, we fight on. Justice will prevail in the end."
In a statement earlier, Cohen and co-lead counsel Elizabeth Mason said the claimants condemned the decision by a Spanish court to convict Stampa for contempt.
"If the world needs to understand why Dr Stampa moved the seat of the arbitration from Spain to France, (the) news (of Stampa's conviction) clarifies the situation. The victimisation of Dr Stampa, an innocent, scrupulous and honourable man and one of Spain's most distinguished arbitrators (with nothing to gain from the arbitration award), is a disgrace to Spain and a stain on its reputation as a venue for neutral dispute resolution."
The statement said Stampa was convicted of disobeying a court that never issued an order against him, claiming that "an insider" had revealed was the result of political interference by the Spanish Foreign Ministry in an attempt to improve the chances of aircraft manufacturer Airbus in getting a military contract with Malaysia.
"The only communications Stampa received to cease and desist were from a court clerk. That clerk has since admitted on record that his communications were not in fact court-ordered, but rather were written at the request of… Malaysia.
"The Spanish prosecutors apparently knew this virtually from the outset of their case. Undeterred, they took the case all the way to trial. The heirs have now initiated a criminal investigation of their own into these ostensibly corrupt events. That investigation just became a lot more important.
On Monday, Stampa was sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court and was banned from practising as an arbitrator for a year.
Calling the Spaniard a "rogue arbitrator", Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said had said the efforts of the government in addressing and putting a stop to the "Sulu Fraud" had not been in vain.
She had said the government would persist in the fight for justice and will continue efforts to get the "Final Award" annulled.
On Nov 6 last year, a French court had annulled the order of the rising of statue to be mortgaged against a Malaysian diplomatic building in Paris by the claimants.
Four days later, the Spanish courts in Madrid, which had carried out their own investigations, filed charges against Stampa.
Earlier in the year, the Dutch Court of Appeal had ruled against the claimants in their bid for recognition and enforcement in the Netherlands of the arbitral award.
Cohen had then said the claimants were looking to appeal the matter to the Dutch Supreme Court.
Asked if they had done so, Cohen told the NST that the appeal had been filed in September last year.
"I believe Malaysia's response is due in March," he said.
In February 2022, after taking the arbitral process to the French courts following the Spanish court's decision to annul his appointment, Stampa awarded US$14.92 billion to the eight claimants.
The claims stemmed from what the claimants say was the failure of the Malaysian government to pay annual cession money for Sabah that was stipulated in an agreement signed between the British and the sultanate.
The token sum, which the government had been paying since the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, was stopped in 2013 after more than 200 supporters of one of several people claiming to be the sultan of Sulu launched an armed intrusion into Lahad Datu in Sabah on Feb 11 that year.
The incident was to last until March 24. A total of six Malaysian civilians and 10 security forces personnel were killed, along with 56 intruders.
The eight claimants, however, have said they had nothing to do with the intrusion and were the true heirs of the sultanate.