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Never pick up anything that doesn't belong to you
By Li Xinran |
October 29, 2009, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THERE'S an old Chinese saying: "Never pick up anything on the street that doesn't belong to you."
Shenzhen Airport cleaner Liang Li should have remembered that last December 9 when she picked up a case containing 3 million yuan (US439,413) worth of gold jewelry weighting 14 kg, she set off a controversy about fair treatment and a firestorm of support for her on the Internet.
She was caught on airport video cameras removing the case from a briefly unattended luggage cart. She later gave jewelry to colleagues, had a piece appraised and hid the box under her bed.
It would seem she was clearly guilty of theft, in this case a crime of convenience that was not premeditated. She maintained she did not steal it.
Liang had been released on bail in September after nine months' detention while police continued to investigate the theft case. That case was dropped on October 10 for lack of evidence.
She remains a suspect, however, in a case of illegal possession of the 14 kg of jewels. The owner, Gold Dragon Jewelry Co Ltd in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, said it forgave her (that does not make her innocent).
Theft would have been prosecuted in court and she would have faced life imprisonment because of the huge sum involved - that fact enraged Netizens who noted that even corrupt officials are sentenced to a maximum of 20 years for graft involving far larger sums.
Illegal possession, a far lesser charge, is not taken to criminal court and it's up to the victim to press civil charges. So now it appears that Liang is home free, as it were, but she is still hopping mad, claiming innocence and furious that she was wrongly (in her view) detained for nine months while the theft case was being investigated.
Forget that she was clearly in possession of the gold hoard, had one piece appraised, gave jewelry to two cleaner friends, presumably to buy their silence, and hid the cache under her bed.
When two judicial officers informed Liang of the decision to drop the theft investigation, the woman lost her temper. She was enraged when she saw the written decision that cited her as the prime suspect in the case.
Liang never expressed gratitude or seemed to learn her lesson. When she was granted bail on September 10, she told media, "I did nothing wrong."
I cannot subscribe to the Netizens' so-called "public perspective" and cannot believe that Liang was an innocent woman, as she claimed, though she might not deserve a life term.
Shenzhen Airport cleaner Liang Li should have remembered that last December 9 when she picked up a case containing 3 million yuan (US439,413) worth of gold jewelry weighting 14 kg, she set off a controversy about fair treatment and a firestorm of support for her on the Internet.
She was caught on airport video cameras removing the case from a briefly unattended luggage cart. She later gave jewelry to colleagues, had a piece appraised and hid the box under her bed.
It would seem she was clearly guilty of theft, in this case a crime of convenience that was not premeditated. She maintained she did not steal it.
Liang had been released on bail in September after nine months' detention while police continued to investigate the theft case. That case was dropped on October 10 for lack of evidence.
She remains a suspect, however, in a case of illegal possession of the 14 kg of jewels. The owner, Gold Dragon Jewelry Co Ltd in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, said it forgave her (that does not make her innocent).
Theft would have been prosecuted in court and she would have faced life imprisonment because of the huge sum involved - that fact enraged Netizens who noted that even corrupt officials are sentenced to a maximum of 20 years for graft involving far larger sums.
Illegal possession, a far lesser charge, is not taken to criminal court and it's up to the victim to press civil charges. So now it appears that Liang is home free, as it were, but she is still hopping mad, claiming innocence and furious that she was wrongly (in her view) detained for nine months while the theft case was being investigated.
Forget that she was clearly in possession of the gold hoard, had one piece appraised, gave jewelry to two cleaner friends, presumably to buy their silence, and hid the cache under her bed.
When two judicial officers informed Liang of the decision to drop the theft investigation, the woman lost her temper. She was enraged when she saw the written decision that cited her as the prime suspect in the case.
Liang never expressed gratitude or seemed to learn her lesson. When she was granted bail on September 10, she told media, "I did nothing wrong."
I cannot subscribe to the Netizens' so-called "public perspective" and cannot believe that Liang was an innocent woman, as she claimed, though she might not deserve a life term.
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