KUALA LUMPUR: Spanish arbitrator Dr Gonzalo Stampa, who controversially ordered Malaysia to pay US$14.92 billion (RM70.19b) to self-claimed heirs of the defunct Sulu Sultanate, has been found guilty of contempt of court today.
Following this, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said Stampa has been sentenced by the Spanish courts to six months in prison.
"Rogue arbitrator, Stampa has been found guilty of contempt of court and has been sentenced by the Spanish courts to six months in prison together with a ban from practising as an arbitrator for a year.
"The efforts by this Madani government in addressing and putting a stop to the Sulu Fraud has not been in vain.
"We persist in the fight for justice and will continue our efforts to annul the Final Award," she said in a statement via X, today.
On Nov 6 last year, the French Court annulled the order of the rising of statue to be mortgaged against a Malaysian Diplomatic building in Paris by a self-claimed Sulu group from the Philippines.
Meanwhile, on Nov 10, last year, Azalina reportedly said the Madrid Court had carried out their own investigations and filed charges against Stampa and if found guilty, he faces a jail sentence and fine.
Previously, eight citizens of the Philippines, who claimed to be heirs of the defunct Sulu sultanate, had filed for arbitration proceedings in Spain to seek billions of US dollars from Malaysia over Sabah and a court in Madrid, Spain had in March 2019 appointed Gonzalo Stampa to be the arbitrator for the Sulu claimants' case.