Even without bloodshed, victory eventually went to Malaysia in a legal dispute with a group that claimed to be the heir to the Sulu sultanate.
On Tuesday, the French Court of Appeal upheld Malaysia's decision to challenge the "Partial Award" by arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa in May 2020 in the case of the Sulu inheritance claim.
Law Minister for Institutional Reform, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman said the decision meant that the claimant could not rely on the 'award' decided for any purpose.
In addition, the court also found that arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa erred in exercising his jurisdiction.
Following the decision, Datuk Seri Azalina described it as a clear victory for the country in its struggle to uphold the law.
This in turn rejected the claim which was deemed to be baseless from the Sulu group and nullified efforts to obtain greater compensation from Malaysia.
Re-opening last year's uproar, the Sulu group has secured a RM62.95 billion ($14.2 billion) award against Malaysia following their territorial claim over Sabah.
Following that in July, they tried to seize the assets belonging to Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) registered in Luxembourg, but were unsuccessful.
The government then filed an application to cancel the claim in Paris, where last March the court upheld Malaysia's order to suspend enforcement of the order.
