IPOH – After several postponements, the trial of Paul Yong finally began at the high court here today, with the prosecution saying it will prove that the Tronoh assemblyman did rape his Indonesian maid and there is no conspiracy.
Perak prosecution director Datuk Jamil Aripin said his team will present evidence that the charge is based on a complaint and probes conducted in accordance with the law, and that there is no plot to victimise the suspect or smear his reputation.
“The conclusion from the proof presented in court will prove that an incident of rape did occur and that it was committed by the accused, and all the testimonies will show beyond reasonable doubt that the accused committed the offence as charged,” he said when reading out the prosecution’s opening statement.
The trial, which began at about 9.30am, was held before judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed.
The prosecution team comprises Jamil and deputy public prosecutors Liyana Zawani Mohd Radzi and Ainul Wardah Shahidan, while the defence team has counsels Datuk Rajpal Singh and Salim Bashir.
When Yong, 51, arrived at the court at 8.45am, he was greeted with cheers by some 30 supporters, comprising people of various races, who had come in a bus.
The first to take the witness stand was policeman P. Paul Vethamuthu, followed by fellow officer Nik Zamri Ismail, and a cameraman from the Ipoh Police Headquarters, who took photographs of the crime scene, case exhibits and related investigation matters.
In the afternoon, another witness was called – Riki Sapari, 39, who received a phone call from the 24-year-old victim at the Complaints Division, Manpower Department of the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur at about 11am on July 8, 2019.
Riki said the victim then sounded like crying and seemed panicky and in fear, saying she had been raped by her employer and repeatedly asked to be rescued. He then asked her to call him back on his handphone.
Riki said he understood that the victim called using her employer’s house telephone, but this was disputed by Salim, who said the number from which she called back Riki is not Yong’s house number.
Salim asked Riki why he recorded the complaint as sexual harassment instead of rape, even though the victim said she was raped and not just touched on certain parts of the body.
“I did not log it down as rape as I was not in a position to determine whether it was just sexual misconduct or rape,” Riki replied.
“That is why we (at the embassy) referred the report to police for further investigation.”
After the first day’s hearing, which lasted about six hours, the court set trial to continue at 10am tomorrow. – Bernama, April 5, 2021
