Brunei Sultan wins court case over miniature Koran

SYDNEY  (AFP) - The Sultan of Brunei on Wednesday won a court battle in Australia over an alleged agreement to buy a 400-year-old gold-lined miniature Koran for eight million US dollars.

A group of Australian businessmen claimed in the supreme court in Sydney that the sultan, one of the world's richest men, had agreed to buy the Koran as a wedding gift for his third wife ahead of their marriage in 2005.

The businessmen, who reportedly bought the Koran in Russia from a former colonel in the KGB secret police, said the money was never paid and launched legal action through their company, Garsec, claiming a breach of contract.

Judge Robert McDougall ruled, however, that the court could not hear the case.
"The proceedings should be stayed as this court is clearly not an appropriate forum," he said.

Lawyers for Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who rules the tiny oil-rich state of Brunei on the island of Borneo, had argued that the case should be dismissed, calling it "a joke".
Garsec's lawyer Don Grieve had said the sultan's private secretary Pehin Nawawi, and his godson, Sunny Chai, were go-betweens in the alleged deal.

Garsec director Michael McGurk said he and his fellow investors planned to donate 10 percent of the proceeds from the sale of the Koran to designated charities, including a local Islamic school.

For now, however, the tiny Koran remains locked in a Sydney safe.