KUALA LUMPUR: Other national assets could be vulnerable and at risk of another seizure bid made by the self-proclaimed Sulu Sultanate heirs.
Minister at Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said this could be another strategy made by the claimants in using forum shopping in international commercial arbitration.
"There is a possibility, not that we have a case (on another bid). Anything could be their target now and they also believe that Malaysia's assets could be easily gained.
"They will try their best to seize our other national assets. Hence, we need to be very careful on this," she said when met by reporters during a briefing on the Sulu Sultanate case between the members of parliament in Dewan Rakyat today.
She also said it was peculiar for the claimants to file the bid through the commercial international arbitration court instead of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
"It made no sense for these eight claimants to go through the commercial court when they harp on sovereignty issues. It seems as though it is their strategy to get money from the Malaysian government."
She said the applications to the commercial court did not contain the claimants' addresses in the first round.
"They did not have an address previously but now submitted one under layers of address based in Manila.
"Hence, we are trying to identify what actually transpired in reference to the Sulu arbitration in Spain and other countries."
She also revealed that one of the eight claimants was a cousin of one of the Philippines men who were sentenced to death with regard to the Lahad Datu intrusion.
"However, there is no government-to-government discussion between the Malaysian and Philippines government. They (the Philippines) did not involve in this and it is a private matter."
She added that the government, however, would not compromise on the sovereignty and national security aspects to protect the nation's interest at all times.
The Sulu group was previously reported to have brought legal action to the Spanish Constitutional Court to receive compensation over land in Sabah which their ancestor had allegedly leased to a British trading company in 1878.
They then took the matter to the Spanish arbitrator in 2019 and the purported arbitrator, Stampa, who was appointed by the group of individuals, decided against their (the claimants') favour.
A French court last year ordered Malaysia to pay US$14.92 billion to the Sulu sultanate heirs to honour a colonial-era land deal.
Malaysia, which did not participate in the arbitration proceedings, maintained that the process was illegal.
It obtained a stay against the award's enforcement in France, but the ruling remains enforceable outside France under a United Nations treaty on international arbitration.
Last July, two Luxembourg-based subsidiaries of Petronas were seized by court bailiffs as part of the heirs' efforts to enforce the award.
Following this, Petronas said it would contest any claim on its assets by the heirs of a former Southeast Asian sultan, who are seeking US$14.92 billion in compensation.
At present, the Malaysian government has appointed international lawyers Uria Menendez in Spain, Bredin Prat in France, Arendt & Medernach SA in Luxembourg, and Dutch law firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek to represent Malaysia in proceedings in the said countries.
Azalina said international law firms Slaughter & May in the United Kingdom, Chaffetz Lindsey LLP in the United States and Allen & Gledhill in Singapore would advise and handle cases to challenge the recognition and enforcement of the final award by the claimant.