Sulu claim has cost Malaysia RM31 million thus far

KUALA LUMPUR - The government has spent approximately RM31 million on various legal costs to deal with the claims filed by the heirs of the Sulu sultanate against Malaysia from Nov 20, 2019 to January this year.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the amount involved the cost of international legal services, court proceedings, translation, historical and legal research.

"In particular, legal fees and payments alone amount to RM36,000 (2019), RM167,000 (2020), RM8.2 million (2021), RM13.5 million (2022)," she said.

"Meanwhile, RM5.4 million has been spent thus far in 2023 for the handling of court cases in four countries, namely Spain, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands," she said in a written reply on Thursday.

She said this in response to a question posed by Lim Lip Eng (PH-Kepong) who asked the Prime Minister to state the legal costs that had been spent to deal with claims from the heirs of the Sulu sultanate against Malaysia.

Azalina also explained that the decision of Malaysia's appeal against the order of the French Court dated Sep 29 is expected to be released this June.

Last January, Azalina in her statement informed that Malaysia obtained an important victory against the individual who claimed to be the heir of the Sultanate of Sulu after the Luxembourg Court on Jan 24 set aside the seizure order over assets requested by the heir.

The heirs of the Sulu sultanate were previously reported to be demanding US$14.92 billion (RM62.59 billion) from Malaysia through an international arbitration proceeding in Madrid, Spain.

The arbitration process was initiated in response to Malaysia's action to cut annual lease payments of RM5,300 to the Sulu sultanate in 2013.