IPOH: The Sessions Court here today set three days beginning Dec 21 to hear the case involving Tronoh Assemblyman Paul Yong Choo Kiong (pix), who is charged with raping an Indonesian maid.
Judge Norashima Khalid set the new dates after being informed that two of Yong’s lawyers, Datuk Rajpal Singh and Salim Bashir, had problems attending today’s proceeding due to the implementation of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) in the Klang Valley.
At today’s proceeding, Yong was represented by lawyers Farhan Sapian and Surindar Singh, while the prosecution was represented by state prosecution director Azhar Mokhtar.
Norashima also set Nov 20 for mention.
Meanwhile, Farhan, when met outside the court, said the defence were awaiting the Federal Court to set a new date to hear their appeal to transfer the case from the Sessions Court to the High Court.
The hearing had been fixed for last Wednesday, but vacated due to the CMCO.
Yong, who is former Perak Housing, Local Government, Public Transport, Non-Muslim Affairs and New Villages Committee chairman, had pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court on Aug 23 last year to raping the Indonesian maid at a house in Meru Desa Park, between 8.15 pm and 9.15 pm on July 7, 2019.
On Feb 10 this year, the Court of Appeal dismissed Yong’s appeal to transfer the case on grounds that there was no appealable error by the High Court judicial commissioner in refusing Yong’s application to transfer the case to the High Court.-Bernama
