The long-running legal battle over Sabah took a decisive turn this week after the Paris Court of Appeal annulled a $14.9-billion arbitration award previously granted to the heirs of the defunct Sultanate of Sulu, effectively voiding their massive claim against Malaysia.

The Malaysian government announced yesterday that the French appellate court “annulled in its entirety” the 28 February 2022 ruling issued by Spanish arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa, who had ordered Kuala Lumpur to pay $14.9 billion to eight descendants of the Sultan of Sulu. 

In Zamboanga City, Sultanate Secretary-General Abraham Idjirani told DAILY TRIBUNE the group was withholding comment until it receives guidance from its legal counsel regarding the Paris court’s ruling.

Idjirani said the 35th Sultan and the direct heirs will meet next week to discuss their next steps. 

“The legal fight is not over,” he said, without elaborating.

The heirs had sought compensation after Malaysia halted annual rental payments in 2013 under an 1878 lease agreement governing parts of Sabah, a resource-rich region once under the historic sultanate.

According to Malaysia’s Sulu Special Secretariat War Room, the court found Stampa “lacked jurisdiction to render the purported ‘final award’ because there was no valid arbitration agreement binding Malaysia.” 

The judges further ordered the claimants to pay 200,000 euros in legal costs. AFP was unable to obtain a copy of the ruling.

The decision marked another major setback for the Sulu heirs, who have pursued the enforcement of the arbitration award in several European jurisdictions.