PUTRAJAYA, Oct 27 — Former Tronoh assemblyman Paul Yong Choo Kiong has filed a review application with the Federal Court, challenging his conviction and sentence of eight years’ imprisonment and caning for the rape of his domestic helper six years ago.
His counsel, Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, confirmed the filing when contacted, stating the application was submitted last week.
The notice of motion filed pursuant to Rule 137 of the Federal Court Rules 1995, sighted by Bernama, seeks a review and an order to set aside the Federal Court’s earlier ruling, which had affirmed his client’s conviction and sentence.
Yong, 55, commenced his sentence on Oct 1, following the Federal Court’s dismissal of his final appeal, upholding his conviction and sentence.
The three-member bench was presided over by Chief Justice Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, alongside Federal Court judges Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah.
In a supporting affidavit on the advice of his counsel, Yong deposed that the previous Federal Court panel had breached the principles of natural justice.
He contends the panel applied the legal precedent of Sathya Vello v Public Prosecutor, a decision which had subsequently been overturned, without affording his legal team the right to be heard on the matter.
He further deposed that, upon legal advice, the previous panel had departed from established precedent and the prevailing interpretation of Section 182A of the Criminal Procedure Code, without affording his counsel a right to be heard.
He stated that a miscarriage of justice had occurred, arguing that the previous appellate panel departed from its own established jurisprudence, which he claimed resulted in a violation of his constitutional rights guaranteed under Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.
The affidavit also stated that, based on legal advice received, his right to a fair trial as enshrined in Article 5 of the Federal Constitution had been infringed.
Yong was initially sentenced by the High Court in July 2022 to 13 years’ imprisonment and two strokes of the cane. Subsequently, in March 2024, the Court of Appeal reduced his prison term to eight years while upholding the corporal punishment.
The High Court had found him guilty of raping the 23-year-old Indonesian domestic helper at his Ipoh residence between 8.15 pm and 9.15 pm on July 7, 2019.
In a unanimous ruling dismissing Yong’s final appeal, the Federal Court held that the victim was a credible and convincing witness.
The court also held it was satisfied that the victim was a credible witness and affirmed the High Court had been correct in accepting her testimony as the basis for the conviction. — Bernama
