KOTA KINABALU: The government is actively looking at all possible legal remedies against any frivolous claims to defend its sovereignty, security and interests at all times.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman said a self-styled group named United Tausug Citizens (UTC) has become the latest to claim to be the "rightful custodians of the Sultanate of Sulu Territory".
She added that the group had requested the Malaysian government to immediately pay US$15 billion in "cession money" and recognise UTC as "a sovereign and independent state kingdom".
The UTC group has also further threatened to commence legal action against Malaysia in the United States.
"This represents the latest frivolous and baseless attempt by a group to claim sovereignty over Malaysian territory and to extort unfounded payments from Malaysia," she said in a statement.
Azalina added that Malaysia had successfully defeated across Europe a similar attempt by the self-proclaimed heirs of Sultan Jamalul Kiram II based on a fraudulent arbitration award issued by rogue arbitrator Dr Gonzalo Stampa.
She said the Sulu Sultanate had been defunct for several decades and was not recognised by any sovereign state or international organisation.
"The recent conviction of Dr Gonzalo Stampa by a Madrid criminal court to six months imprisonment and one-year disqualification from practising as an arbitrator confirms the criminal abuse of the arbitral processes and gross injustices suffered by Malaysia due to the so-called Sulu case.
"Malaysia has never recognised the legitimacy of claims over the sovereignty, territory and natural resources of Sabah.
"The government of Malaysia once again emphasises that the exercise of self-determination by Sabah to become part of Malaysia has been a settled legal fact since decolonisation in 1963.
"Since then, Sabah has been an integral part of Malaysia. The international commercial arbitration system is an important mechanism within global dispute resolution, and it must be protected from illegitimate attempts to extort sovereign states under the guise of arbitration claims."