Former Tronoh assemblymen Paul Yong who is convicted of raping, arriving at the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya. (1/3/2024) — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star
PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has allowed former Perak executive councillor, Paul Yong Choo Kiong’s application to admit additional evidence in his appeal against his conviction for raping his maid.
The three-judge panel led by Tan Sri Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal allowed the five documents to be admitted as additional evidence, describing them as important because they appear to indicate that the victim may have provided false testimony at Yong’s trial.
"We consider this to be a serious matter as if it was indeed the case that the complainant (victim) gave false evidence, the applicant (Yong) would be subjected to grave injustice,” he said.
Justice Harmindar, who sat with Justices Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, then sent the case back to the High Court and fixed Nov 26 for case management.
He directed the High Court in Ipoh, Perak to take all the evidence, including the five documents and any other additional evidence relating to the documents including evidence from any witnesses.
Justice Harmindar also instructed the High Court to certify the additional evidence and provide a statement of its opinion on the case, taking the new evidence into account.
He said if witnesses were called, the parties involved would be allowed to cross-examine them as the High Court deemed appropriate.
Additionally, the Federal Court has postponed Yong’s appeal hearing originally scheduled on Nov 25 pending certification of the additional evidence by the High Court.
Earlier, Yong’s lawyer Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik sought permission to admit a statement in which the victim retracted her testimony regarding the rape allegation. He said the effect of the document suggests that the victim may have committed perjury.
He said the statement was signed in the presence of a lawyer named Pathurrahman and a notary public by the name of Hilman in Indonesia and the documents were sent to Yong's house via courier in May 2024.
Hisyam said in her statement that the victim claimed she had testified against Yong because he had refused to end her contract of work.
He suggested that the matter regarding the new evidence be sent back to the High Court to determine the authenticity of the documents.
Justice Harmindar asked Hisyam whether the victim would be willing to testify regarding the documents. In response, the senior lawyer said there was a possibility she might not appear, as she could be arrested for perjury as soon as she returns to Malaysia.
Deputy public prosecutor Faizal@Amrin Noor Hadi objected to the application, saying the documents were not certified and were hearsay.
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 8.15pm and 9.15pm on July 7, 2019.
The appellate court three-judged panel, had however, reduced Yong’s prison sentence from 13 years to eight years with two strokes of the cane. This prompted Yong to appeal the decision to the Federal Court.
The appellate court panel had allowed a stay of execution, pending disposal of the appeal at the Federal Court. Yong was released on RM30,000 bail with one surety and ordered to surrender his passport to the court.- Bernama
