HIGH COURT SCHEDULES FOUR DAYS FOR TWO WITNESSES IN PAUL YONG'S RAPE CONVICTION APPEAL

IPOH, Nov 26 (Bernama) -- The High Court here has provisionally scheduled four days to hear testimony from two Indonesian witnesses in connection with former Perak executive councillor Paul Yong Choo Kiong's appeal, which includes additional evidence, against his conviction for raping his maid.

Yong's lawyer, Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, told reporters that the High Court will review the additional evidence based on submissions from both the defence and prosecution, following which it will provide its opinion and forward it to the Federal Court for consideration in the applicant's main appeal.

“The next proceedings include some tentative dates set by the High Court. The dates are Jan 13, 14, and Jan 21, 22, 2025 subject to confirmation by the High Court judge,” he said.

“The Federal Court case management is scheduled for Dec 3, and we will update the court on the latest developments at that time,” he added.

Yong’s other lawyer, Salim Bashir, said they would be calling two witnesses: the victim’s lawyer and a notary public, both from Jakarta, Indonesia, 

“We will be asking questions regarding the documents provided to YB Paul (Yong), followed by verification questions. The prosecution will also have the opportunity to ask their own verification questions,” he said.

“On record, we will try our best to bring her (the victim). If we can’t, we’ll wait for the court. At the moment, the two witnesses, both from Indonesia, have confirmed their attendance,” Salim said.

Hisyam said today’s case management was held in chambers before High Court Deputy Registrar Nur Laila Mohamed Nazil. 

Perak state prosecutor Muhammad Zaki Abdul Kudos led the team, assisted by deputy public prosecutors Yasinnisa Begam Seeni Mohideen, and Liyana Zawani Mohd Radzi, while the defence was represented by Hisyam, Salim, and lawyer Low Wei Loke. 

On Nov 12, the Putrajaya Federal Court granted Yong's application to introduce additional evidence in his appeal against his conviction for raping his maid.

The three-judge panel, led by Tan Sri Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, allowed five documents to be admitted as additional evidence, describing them as significant because they appear to indicate that the victim may have provided false testimony during Yong's trial.

On March 1 this year, the Court of Appeal, in a split decision, dismissed Yong's appeal and upheld his conviction for raping his 23-year-old Indonesian maid in a room at his house in Ipoh between 8.15 pm and 9.15 pm on July 7, 2019.

However, the appellate court’s three-judge panel reduced Yong’s prison sentence from 13 years to eight years, with two strokes of the cane. 

Yong subsequently appealed the decision to the Federal Court.

The appellate court granted a stay of execution pending the outcome of the appeal. Yong was released on RM30,000 bail with one surety and ordered to surrender his passport to the court.

-- BERNAMA