IPOH: The Indonesian maid, who accused former Tronoh assemblyman Paul Yong Choo Kiong of rape nearly six years ago, said in a statement read by her lawyer in the High Court here that she had made up the accusation so that she could go home before her contract ended.
Pathurrahman SH. MH, 58, an advocate based in Kabupaten Sumbawa of Indonesia said he drafted the statement on May 21, last year, a day after the maid approached him.
In the statement, the maid revealed that she was bound by a three-year agreement from May 7, 2019, to May 2022 but wanted to terminate it and return home but her employer refused, prompting her to accuse Yong of rape as an excuse to leave.
“I regret my action and want to apologise for the testimony I gave in the Malaysian court that was false. The testimony given by me was merely for me to get back home.
“So I contacted my lawyer (Pathurrahman) on my intentions to withdraw my statements (on the rape), and my lawyer advised me that it was within my rights to do so, and that it was better to free an innocent person than making false accusations.
“With full awareness, and without any coercion or intimidation from any party, I withdraw the information provided in the Malaysian High Court,” he read the statement before Justice Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed on Wednesday (Feb 5).
Pathurrahman was called as a witness by the defence team after the Federal Court, on Nov 12, last year, allowed Yong’s application to present additional evidence in his appeal.
In his witness statement, the lawyer, who has been practising since 1993, said the maid sought legal advice in his office on May 20, 2024.
He said she told him about her work as a maid and the false accusation against Yong.
“She told me about her intentions of withdrawing the statements she made earlier in Malaysia because she wanted to return home.
“I told her that giving false testimony is a serious offence and advised her that she had the right to withdraw her statements and speak the truth.
“After hearing my advice without any coercion or intimidation, she decided to withdraw the false statements she made, and I was told by her to prepare a statement letter,” he added.
He said the letter, dated May 22, 2024 was notarised, and he confirmed the validity of its contents.
State prosecution director Muhammad Zaki Abdul Kudos, who is leading the prosecution team, questioned during cross-examination why the maid, who kept a diary while in Malaysia and could write and speak Bahasa Malaysia well, wrote her statement in Bahasa Indonesia.
Pathurrahman said he drafted the letter based on the maid speaking in Bahasa Indonesia.
“I put it to you that the letter is based on your own words, and not that of the maid. The incident happened in 2019 with the trial ending two years ago. How is it possible that the maid remembers all the dates, the address of the employer and so forth so clearly?
“Are you aware that the maid was under witness protection while in Malaysia, and do you know that when she went back she was harassed, and she was coerced into writing the letter,” he said, suggesting that the letter was fabricated.
Pathurrahman said he was not aware and had only drafted the letter based on what the maid told him.
“Before she signed the letter, she read the letter that was drafted and agreed with the contents,” he added.
Justice Abdul Wahab fixed March 7, to deliver his opinion which would be submitted to the Federal Court for the appeal hearing scheduled on March 17.
The defence team was led by senior counsel Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Datuk Rajpal Singh and Salim Bashir.
Muhammad Zaki, was assisted by Liyana Zawani Mohd Radzi, Nasrul Hadi Abdul Ghani and Qurratu’äini Khalifah.
On March 1, the Court of Appeal, in a split decision, dismissed Yong’s appeal and upheld his conviction for 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 appellate court's three-member bench, however, reduced Yong’s prison sentence from 13 years to eight with two strokes of the cane.
Yong then appealed the decision at the Federal Court.
On Nov 12, the Federal Court allowed Yong’s application to present additional evidence in his appeal.
