Judge Abdul Wahab Mohamed made the decision after finding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Yong, who is a former state executive councillor.
The trial will continue on Feb 15 and 16.
Wahab, reading the 10-page judgment that took about 45 minutes, said there were several elements of witness testimony that showed the rape allegations had merit.
The first element that was corroborated was that the victim and the accused had penetrative sex without the victim’s consent, and that the evidence was consistent with the lawyer’s cross-examination.
Wahab said an expert had identified a tear in the victim’s genitals.
He said the testimony of the victim, who was also a prosecution witness, was supported by the testimony of several other witnesses who supported the claim.
The prosecution consisted of Perak state director of prosecution Azlina Rasdi along with deputy public prosecutors Liyana Zawani Mohd Radzi and Mohd Fitri Sadarudin, while Yong was represented by lawyers Rajpal Singh and Salim Bashir.
Rajpal, speaking to reporters outside the court, said the defence accepts the decision and will present four witnesses of their own when the trial resumes.
The prosecution had concluded their case on Sept 28 after calling 23 witnesses, including two undercover witnesses, to testify during the trial which had begun on April 5.
Yong, 51, was charged with raping a 23-year-old Indonesian maid in a room on the top floor of his Meru Desa Park house between 8.15pm and 9.15pm on July 7, 2019.
The charge against him was made under Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping if convicted.
The case was previously heard in the sessions court, but on Dec 15 last year the Federal Court allowed the defence’s application for it to be transferred to the High Court for trial.
Yong was charged in the sessions court on Aug 23, 2019 while he was the Perak state exco for housing, local government, public transport, and non-Muslim affairs, under the then Pakatan Harapan state government.
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