Ex-Tronoh Assemblyman’s Final Appeal Against His Rape Conviction And Prison Sentence To Be Heard On Aug 27

PUTRAJAYA, June 20 (Bernama) — The Federal Court has fixed Aug 27 to hear former Tronoh assemblyman Paul Yong Choo Kiong’s appeal against his conviction and imprisonment for allegedly raping his maid.

One of his lawyers, Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, confirmed with Bernama the hearing date following a case management held today. Also representing Yong is lawyer Datuk Rajpal Singh.

Yong is appealing against the Court of Appeal’s decision in upholding the decision of the High Court which convicted him for raping his 23-year-old Indonesian maid.

The High Court, in July 2022, sentenced Yong to 13 years imprisonment, but the Court of Appeal in March, last year, reduced the sentence to eight years.

He was alleged to have commited the offence in a room at his house in Ipoh, between 8.15pm and 9.15pm on July 7, 2019.

The Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 majority decision, dismissed Yong’s appeal against his conviction but reduced his prison sentence to eight years, along with two strokes of the cane.

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

In March this year, the High Court in Ipoh, Perak dismissed Yong’s application to submit additional evidence in his appeal.

A lawyer for the maid had testified in the High Court that the woman has withdrawn her rape allegations against Yong and she made the retraction through a statutory declaration affirmed in Indonesia.

— BERNAMA