Leniency on aged blackmailers hurts social trust

Therefore, instead of regarding such incidents as isolated cases of aged people "acting smart", the government and judicial authorities should see them as a worrisome social problem.

Public security officials and judicial authorities should not be influenced by the "trials" conducted by netizens, or the media. Instead, they should process the cases according to the law when it comes to blackmailing cases involving senior citizens.

Previously, many senior citizens who tried to blackmail people were simply sent to re-education schools and set free because of their advanced age. But the law of the land does not accord priority to senior citizens when it comes to offenses. It seems, therefore, that the authorities' lenient attitude toward senior citizens with mala fide intentions is an important reason why more of their ilk are trying to cheat people.

The authorities should change their lenient attitude toward senior citizens who try to blackmail unsuspecting people and, instead, take measures to hand them appropriate punishment as part of the efforts to build the rule of law.

Trust is a valuable social asset. People who extort or try to extort money from kind and sympathetic fellow citizens breed suspicion and deal a deadly blow to the social fabric. And compared with their anti-social act the small amount they pocket is worthless.

So, the evildoers, irrespective of their advanced age, should not be forgiven because they could cause irreparable damage to society.

Building social trust is a difficult and lengthy process. Destroying it is a comparatively easy task, especially with blackmailers around. The authorities should realize this and take measures to ensure that no one, not even a senior citizen, dares to dupe an innocent person.

The article was first published in Beijing News on Thursday.

(China Daily 10/31/2015 page8)