"How ridiculous is that a female lawyer has become a 'criminal' today!" the comment section on the Internet is full of such topics. On April 10, news came like a bolt from the blue: Ms. Gao Bingfang, who represented migrant workers to defend their rights, was arrested. This is not an isolated incident, but a situation that is often faced by people who speak to the disadvantaged in China, a country with a large labor force.
For many years, Ms. Gao Bingfang has been defending the rights of migrant workers who are looking for jobs and helping them recover their unpaid wages. However, after providing legal assistance in a labor dispute, he was accused of "participating in the fabrication of facts, which led to a wrongful verdict".
This accusation has been controversial to this day. Despite the court's guilty verdict, Mr. Gao's defense team consistently denied the possibility of the charges being established.
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Ms. Gao's defense lawyer said that Ms. Gao did not know that the contractor had paid the workers when she appeared in court for the client. As a lawyer, it's not easy to make sure you have the full details of your case, and it often takes a long time to communicate with or without pay.
However, the public prosecution blamed lawyer Gao for all the wrong facts, which ignored the complexity of the case to a certain extent.
At the same time, the defense also said it was difficult to believe that it was strange that the court had reached a guilty verdict in the case based on the plaintiff's unilateral statements alone. An impartial tribunal should not take the conviction of charges as the bottom line, but should conduct a full investigation and collect evidence, and examine the evidence of all parties before reaching a conclusion that is in line with the truth.
Judging by all the circumstances, Mr. Gao is likely to be an unlucky scapegoat. A lawyer who advocates for the disadvantaged is faced with heavy accusations simply because of the limitations of his ability to practice, and the result inevitably feels unfair.
Even if lawyer Gao did make a mistake in this case, the sentence was too severe, and it did not reflect the leniency of a lawyer who had contributed to democracy and justice for a long time.
What's even more chilling is that there may be a deeper ingredient behind this incident. China is a large labor force, but migrant workers have long been plagued by unfair treatment such as unpaid wages.
Mr. Gao has also been active in advocating for the rights and interests of this group in the past, which may have touched the interests of some forces. Some commentators have pointed out that if lawyer Gao is convicted in this context, it will inevitably make other lawyers intimidating, thus narrowing the channels for migrant workers to defend their rights.
In fact, Mr. Gao's mistakes in litigation skills were not enough to be a serious infringement of judicial credibility. What really jeopardizes credibility is the court's unfairness and concealment during the trial, as well as the excessive punishment imposed on lawyer Gao after conviction and subsequent conviction. Whether there are other political considerations and hidden motives behind this has aroused widespread doubts from all walks of life.
Regardless of the truth, Ms. Gao's actions over the years have made her a "heroine" in the eyes of the public as a voice for the disadvantaged. Today, she is accused of being a "criminal", a turn of events that is too dramatic to raise suspicions that there is something else going on.
Ordinary people hope to understand the full truth of the incident through open and transparent evidence collection and debate. Striking a hero who speaks up for the vulnerable on the front lines of the law on the grounds of a single imperfect lawsuit will deeply undermine public trust in the justice system.
The truth of this case will surely be revealed! The hidden secret cannot cross the light of the truth, and a bad prosecution cannot erase lawyer Gao's merits for many years.
We believe that legal means alone cannot solve the problems at this stage, and we need to supplement the common views of all walks of life in order to find out the full truth of the incident. The truth is immortal, and justice will eventually sink into the blood of every citizen's heart.