00:00The federal court has dismissed a final legal bid by former Toronto Assemblyman Paul Yong
00:07to overturn his rape conviction. The 55-year-old politician is currently serving an eight-year
00:14sentence at Kajang Prison for raping his domestic helper in 2019. A three-judge panel led by Chief
00:21Judge of Malaya, Justice Hashim Hamza, ruled that Yong's application did not meet the high
00:27threshold required for a review under Rule 137 of the rules of the federal court. Justice Hashim
00:34stated that all parties had been given full opportunity to present their case and there
00:39was no breach of natural justice. Yong's lawyer, Datuk Hisham Teh Potek, had argued that his client
00:46suffered a grave miscarriage of justice, claiming the trial judge failed to properly consider his
00:51police statement during the investigation. However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Yusaini
00:57Amir Abdul Karim countered that the issues had already been thoroughly argued in previous appeals
01:03and that allowing further litigation would undermine the principle of finality in legal proceedings.
01:10Yong appeared in court wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and handcuffs, showing no visible reaction
01:15as the decision was delivered. His wife and children were present in the courtroom. They spoke to reporters
01:21after the court's decision. My father is very strong. I believe that he will continue to be strong.
01:27He will continue to be strong. He will serve his sentence and he will be out of jail. He will be together
01:35with us again one day and we will live our lives hopefully normally. But for him of course it will not
01:42be normal ever again because his name will be tainted by this. So what do I say to him?
01:50We love you, Father. Be strong and we will be together again one day.
02:01We believe our father is innocent. He is innocent. And he is serving a sentence that he does not deserve
02:10and we hope that there is justice for him somewhere. In this case, as you all know, there is witness
02:16protection for the accuser. Witness protection is supposed to be used in a case where there's
02:23a risk that if there is no witness protection, the witness will be reluctant to appear in court
02:31to testify. Therefore, we protect the witness's identity. But in this case, the witness's identity, the accuser's identity
02:41was known from the beginning. Her passport number was in the public. Everyone can search
02:48for it now itself. So my father was taken away his rights for his lawyers to cross-examine the witness,
02:58to see her demeanor face to face. There's no chance for my father here. There's no right here.
03:05This is injustice. This has taken away his rights. That's all for now. We hope that justice can be served
03:15somewhere for him. Thank you. I was with him the night. I know he did not do anything wrong or do and do as what he was charged down. So he did not deserve this. I believe me.
03:39Last October, the federal court dismissed Yong's final appeal, calling the victim a credible and convincing witness. With today's decision,
03:48Yong has exhausted his legal options and will continue serving his sentence, which began on October 1 last year.
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