The heirs had eyed the buildings as part of their attempt to enforce the purported final award under arbitration proceedings against the Malaysian government, which Putrajaya had described as a “sham”.

Azalina said the withdrawal by the claimants followed the successful appeal by Putrajaya in June against the exequatur of the so-called partial award.

“On Nov 9, as a further result of the June 6, 2023, decision, the Paris enforcement judge recorded the claimants’ withdrawal from the proceedings they had initiated to seize the aforementioned diplomatic buildings,” Azalina said in a statement.

She said as of today, neither the partial award nor the final award demanded by the claimants could be enforced in France.

Azalina also said that on Nov 6, the Paris enforcement judge quashed its prior ex parte order authorising a statutory mortgage to be registered on three diplomatic buildings owned by Malaysia in Paris.

The judge considered that it did not have the power to authorise such measures and ordered the claimants to pay 15,000 euros to Malaysia as costs, Azalina said.

The claimants have since confirmed that they will remove the statutory mortgage, she added.

“In light of these developments, the Malaysian government is confident that the ultimate annulment of the purported final award by the Paris Court of Appeal is only a matter of time, and is making every effort to secure that result as quickly as possible.”

A legal firm in London, representing a group of nine people based in the Philippines, had filed a series of legal suits against the government following a US$15 billion arbitration claim it obtained against Malaysia.

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