“Malaysia will spare no expense in defending its sovereignty and its assets abroad wherever they may be situated,” law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said in a statement.

The heirs of the former Sulu sultan on Thursday asked a Dutch court for permission to seize Malaysian assets in the Netherlands.

Some of Malaysia’s biggest companies have operations in the Netherlands, including state oil firm Petronas, which is 100% owned by the government.

“Petronas’ assets are not assets belonging to the government of Malaysia and it would be an abuse of the process of any court to seek enforcement against such assets,” Wan Junaidi said.

Petronas did not have an immediate comment on the government statement. It has not commented on the heirs’ court petition in the Netherlands.

In July, two Luxembourg-based subsidiaries of Petronas were seized by court bailiffs as part of the heirs’ effort to claim the award.

Petronas has described the Luxembourg seizure as “baseless” and vowed to defend its global assets.