PUTRAJAYA: Former Perak executive council member Paul Yong Choo Kiong, who was charged with raping an Indonesian maid, will be tried before a High Court judge.
This follows a Federal Court ruling today to allow his appeal against a majority Court of Appeal judgment that his case should commence in the Sessions Court.
Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said the appeal was allowed after the bench had read the submission by Yong’s lawyers and that the prosecution had no objection to the matter being heard in the High Court.
“We set aside the Court of Appeal ruling and the trial dates before the Sessions Court are vacated,” said Tengku Maimun, who sat with Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Mary Lim Thian Suan.
Deputy public prosecutor K Mangai said she was instructed to take the position that the trial would begin in the High Court as both parties had come to “an agreement in the adversarial system”.
Tengku Maimun also ordered the case to be mentioned before the High Court next Monday.
The trial was earlier scheduled to begin for three days next week.
Yong, who is the Tronoh assemblyman, was present in court.
On Feb 10, Court of Appeal judges Yaacob Md Sam and Kamaludin Md Said dismissed Yong’s appeal on grounds that there was no appealable error by the High Court in refusing Yong’s application to transfer the case to the High Court.
However, appellate court judge Rhodzariah Bujang, who dissented, said that in an adversarial criminal justice system, the court must respect the decision arrived by the defence and the prosecution.
“Therefore, when the public prosecutor clearly indicated his stand that the application be allowed, the court must respect the decision unless there is a strenuous and compelling reason to do so,” she said.
Rhodzariah said an agreement did not come with a one-liner “no objection” but with a list of reasons.
Outside the court, lawyer Rajpal Singh said the apex court bench had upheld Rhodzariah’s reasoning and that was one of the grounds for the appeal.
Rajpal, who appeared with Salim Bashir, said the defence wanted the trial to be held in the High Court as complex issues like the reliance of the Witness Protection Act by the prosecution would be raised.
“We will be challenging the Act as being unconstitutional as the defence cannot cross-examine the victim and another key witness,” he said.
Rajpal said the law could be relied upon only in security cases, not in sexual crimes.
On Aug 23 last year, Yong claimed trial at the Session’s Court to raping the 23-year-old maid at his residence at Meru Desa Park, Meru Raya in Perak between 8.15pm and 9.15pm on July 7.