Police deny Paul Yong rape case closed

IPOH: Perak police today refuted a claim made by a viral social media post that they have closed the case of Perak executive council (exco) member Paul Yong Choo Kiong, who was charged last year with raping his Indonesian maid.

Perak police chief Datuk Razarudin Husain said that police have launched an investigation into the post – with the content “Perak Exco Freed of Rape Charge” – uploaded to Facebook by Fahaizal Lee, who had his statement taken on Thursday.

Razarudin said the case is being investigated under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for sharing of offensive and menacing content; Section 500 of the Penal Code for defamation; and Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code for causing public fear.

"We would like to stress that this case is not closed and the message is not true. We will not hesitate to take action against any individual who spreads false information (on the case).

"We have found that there are many people who are still sharing the message that the case is closed after police supposedly received an order from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AG).

“The viral post is also causing a large number of social media users to post comments criticising us," he said in a statement today.

Razarudin added that the Sessions Court here has set Feb 10 to 14 to hear the case and that police will step up security measures during the trial.

On Aug 23 last year, Yong, who is the Perak exco for Housing, Local Government, Public Transport, Non-Islamic Affairs and New Villages, claimed trial to the charge of raping his Indonesian maid at his home in Meru Desa Park on July 7 between 8.15pm and 9.15pm.