Paul Yong rape case: Apex court allows bid to introduce new evidence

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has allowed additional evidence to be admitted in former Perak board member Paul Yong Choo Kiong’s appeal against his conviction for raping his maid.

The three-judge bench, led by Tan Sri Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, allowed the five documents to be admitted as additional evidence and described them as significant because they appeared to indicate that the victim may have given false evidence at Yong’s trial.

“We consider this a serious matter, as if indeed the complainant (victim) made a false statement, the applicant (Yong) will be subjected to great injustice,” he said.

After consulting with Justices Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, Justice Harmindar then remanded the case back to the High Court and fixed November 26 for case management.

Ipoh directed the High Court in Perak to receive all the evidence, including the five documents, and other additional evidence on the documents, including the statements of witnesses.

Justice Harmindar also directed the High Court to certify additional evidence and express its opinion on the case taking into account the new evidence.

He said that if witnesses are called, interested parties will be allowed to cross-examine them if the Supreme Court deems it appropriate.

Additionally, the Federal Court postponed Yong’s appeal hearing, scheduled for November 25, pending approval of additional evidence by the Supreme Court.

Earlier, Yong’s lawyer Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik had sought permission to accept a statement stating that the victim had retracted her statement regarding the alleged rape. He said the impact of the document showed that the victim may have committed perjury.

He said that the statement was signed in Indonesia in the presence of a lawyer named Pathurrahman and a notary public named Hilman, and the documents were sent to Yong’s house by courier in May 2024.

In his statement, Hisyam said the victim claimed that she testified against Yong because he refused to terminate her employment contract.

He suggested that the matter regarding the new evidence be referred back to the Supreme Court to determine the authenticity of the documents.

Judge Harmindar asked Hisyam if the victim wanted to testify regarding the documents. In response, the senior lawyer said there was a possibility that he would not appear for the hearing as he could be arrested for perjury once he returns to Malaysia.

Deputy public prosecutor Faizal @Amrin Noor Hadi objected to the application, saying the documents were not authenticated 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 of his Ipoh home between 8.15pm and 9.15pm. July 7, 2019.

However, the three-judge panel of the appeal court reduced Yong’s prison sentence from 13 years to eight years with two strokes of the cane. This led Yong to appeal the decision in the Federal Court.

The appeals court panel allowed the stay of execution until the appeal was decided in the Federal Court. Yong was released on single surety of RM30,000 and his passport was ordered to be handed over to the court.- Bernama