KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said commended the Madrid Criminal Court’s sentencing of Spanish arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa to six months in prison for contempt of court today.
“Congratulations to all Malaysians! Rogue arbitrator Gonzalo 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 Kerajaan Madani 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,” Azalina wrote in a post on X today.
In December, Azalina had travelled to Spain to observe the trial against Stampa.
Back then she expressed hope that the Sulu claimants’ claim against Malaysia for compensation over land in Sabah would come to an end if Stampa is convicted.
In the case, the Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office and Malaysia (as the complainant) had accused Stampa of the criminal offence of serious contempt of court, while the former had also accused him of unqualified professional practice.
In 2021, the Madrid High Court of Justice had annulled or cancelled its initial 2019 appointment of Stampa as the arbitrator in the Sulu claimants’ case against Malaysia, and said Stampa should have followed the Spanish court’s order instead of carrying out “unethical and unprofessional” conduct by moving the arbitration proceedings to France before ordering Malaysia to pay US$14.9 billion to the Sulu claimants.
