KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said has told Paul Cohen, the lawyer of the heirs to the former Sulu Sultanate, that he should "fight fair” if he wants to continue their legal claims against Malaysia.

Azalina said that the dispute has been taken to various jurisdictions, moving from one country to another.

"If you want to fight, fight fairly, put your money where your mouth is.

"Don’t jump from jurisdiction to jurisdiction as if you want to take advantage of the United Nations (UN) or the arbitration forum,” she said during a press conference held at the Asian International Arbitration Centre in the Sulaiman Building here.

Azalina was responding to a statement made by Cohen, that "the fight is far from over”.

Cohen made the statement after, the Dutch Court of Appeal in the Netherlands on Tuesday dismissed the Sulu claimants’ application for recognition and enforcement of a purported arbitral award of US$14.9 billion (RM62.59 billion) to be enforced in the Netherlands.

Azalina pointed out that back in 2021, when the High Court in Madrid, Spain, ordered the initial case that the claimants had brought against Malaysia to be stopped, proceedings were then moved to France and then other countries.

"Why do you jump? If you believe your claim is a righteous claim then you stay and fight in Madrid,” she said.

Azalina said that the Malaysian government was now moving on the offensive, and will be seeking to claim compensation from the claimants.

She also said that cases such as this were very complex and could only be handled by a stable government, adding that the Madani government had been united at all levels in handling the issue.

To note, in February, Azalina told Parliament that the government had spent some RM31 million on the Sulu heir’s dispute from November 2019 until January this year, with the cost comprising international legal services, court proceedings, translations as well as historical and legal research.