KUALA LUMPUR – Former Tronoh assemblyman Paul Yong Choo Kiong has filed an appeal in the Federal Court against the Court of Appeal’s decision upholding his conviction for raping his maid five years ago.
Yong’s lawyer, Datuk Rajpal Singh, confirmed that the notice of appeal was filed on March 5.
“The court has not yet set a date for case management for the appeal,” he said when contacted today.
On March 1, in a majority decision of 2-1, Justice Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail, leading the panel with Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah, upheld Yong’s conviction, while Justice Datuk S.M. Komathy Suppiah dissented.
Accordingly, the court reduced Yong’s prison sentence from 13 years to eight years with two strokes of the cane.
Justice Azman, reading the majority decision, said the court was of the opinion that the trial judge did not err in finding the appellant (Yong) guilty.
“We find that the learned high court judge did not err in his decision. We also find no merit in the appellant’s appeal. The guilt has been proven, and the decision of the high court is affirmed. Therefore, we dismiss the appeal against the conviction,” the judge said.
Meanwhile, Justice Komathy, in delivering the minority decision, said the appellant did not receive a fair trial in the high court.
She said the victim had covered her face, which hindered the appellant’s lawyer from determining her facial expressions and body language when she answered questions.
On July 27, 2022, the high court in Ipoh, Perak found Yong guilty of raping a 23-year-old Indonesian maid in a room at his house in Ipoh, between 8.15pm and 9.15pm on July 7, 2019.
The charge was framed under Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code which provides for a prison sentence of up to 20 years, with whipping. – April 24, 2024