Gang rape trial eclipsed by outcry over justice

By Ni Tao
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Shanghai Daily, July 18, 2013
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Inbattled Tsinghua University law professor Yi Yanyou [file photo]

Inbattled Tsinghua University law professor Yi Yanyou [file photo]



Now Yi says that it causes greater harm to rape a "decent" girl than a prostitute, bar hostess, taxi dancer, or "three-service girl," referring to nightclub girls who keep customers company and provide entertainment, which may include sex.

By playing with words, Yi demonstrated that he was both unapologetic and angered by the weibo insults. Indeed, he tweeted that "one cannot expect rational dialogue to take place in cyberspace."

Cyberspace is truly a place where decorum quickly deteriorates, but it manifests, at least in this case, a stronger sense of justice than Yi possesses.

He seems to have lost his conscience in throwing his weight behind the accused rapist Li and his powerful parents.

And his "which-does-more-harm" remarks reflect his blatant contempt for the rights of people he deems lowly and inferior, undeserving of equal treatment under the law - actually, his own law.

If basic concepts such as equality, the very essence of law, are so alien to a law professor, what business does he have holding forth on justice and rights?

Can we trust such morally deficient teachers with our children?

Yi's incendiary views are also colored by the usual elitist disparaging of the masses. His message is that it's impossible to speak reason to a murderous, zealous lynch mob.

Uncouth as the web community is, it has retained integrity lost to the likes of law professor Yi, who seems to think that civility and his brand of reason come before conscience, morality and decency.

That's why his public excoriation merits little sympathy but considerable schadenfreude. He had it coming.

The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small. Those who try to stop or slow them will only get caught and ground as well.

 

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