Dutch court rules Sultan heirs cannot seize Malaysian assets

A Dutch court of appeal dismissed a bid by eight descendants of a former sultanate to enforce a $15-billion arbitration award they had won against the government of Malaysia, a judgment released on the court website Tuesday showed. "The court dismisses the requests of the Filipino nationals" to demand to execute the arbitration award, the judgment said.

A Dutch court of appeal dismissed a bid by eight descendants of a former sultanate to enforce a $15-billion arbitration award they had won against the government of Malaysia, a judgment released on the court website Tuesday showed.

"The court dismisses the requests of the Filipino nationals" to demand to execute the arbitration award, the judgment said. Last year, the Filipino heirs to the last Sultan of Sulu were awarded $14.9 billion by a Paris arbitration court in a long-running dispute with Malaysia over a colonial-era land deal. They have since sought to seize Malaysian government assets in France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, in a bid to enforce the award.