In a statement, the secretariat said a group of individuals, presenting themselves as court bailiffs, had gone to the Malaysian embassy in the French capital on Monday to request access to the premises.

This was to enable the group to “obtain a description of the properties”, the statement added.

Diplomatic staff, however, rejected the request and the bailiffs left shortly after.

“This was not an attempt to seize the properties,” the statement said.

Yesterday, Reuters reported that French court bailiffs had unsuccessfully attempted to enforce a seizure order on three Paris properties owned by the Malaysian government in a case linked to a controversial US$15 billion arbitration award granted in favour of the Sulu claimants.

Meanwhile, the secretariat also said Malaysia intends to take legal action to cancel the registration of a statutory mortgage issued by a Paris court on the Sulu claimants’ application.

The registration was premised on the arbitration award which Malaysia is disputing in various jurisdictions, including France.

“The statutory mortgage is not an enforcement measure per se,” the secretariat’s statement said.

The secretariat confirmed that Malaysia is taking steps in the same Paris court to have the registration of the mortgage cancelled.

“Malaysia maintains that the premises of any diplomatic mission shall be inviolable and shall be immune from any search, requisition, attachment or requisition under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” the secretariat said.