PUTRAJAYA: Former Perak executive councillor Paul Yong has filed an application to introduce new evidence in the Federal Court to set aside his conviction for raping his maid five years ago.
His lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, said the application, if allowed, could dramatically turn the course of the appeal.
The application was filed earlier this week and will be heard on Nov 12, he told FMT after case management today before Federal Court deputy registrar Faezahnoor Hassan.
The hearing date of the appeal has been rescheduled from Oct 23 to Nov 25.
Deputy public prosecutor Eyu Ghim Siang represented the prosecution. Lawyer Rajpal Singh also appeared for Yong, a former Tronoh assemblyman.
On July 27, 2022, the High Court in Ipoh found Yong guilty of 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 charge was framed under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code.
On March 1, the Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 majority decision, upheld Yong’s conviction, with Justices Hadhariah Syed Ismail and Azman Abdullah in favour and Justice S Komathy dissenting.
Hadhariah and Azman concurred that the lower court judge did not err in his decision and thus, there was no merit in Yong’s appeal.
Komathy, however, said Yong did not receive a fair trial.
The appeals court then reduced Yong’s prison sentence from 13 years to eight years with two strokes of the cane.
