Why was A criminal Acquitted After Robbing A Helpless Woman in the Middle of the Night?

半夜抢劫柔弱女子的罪犯为何被无罪释放？

QunshuZhiyao

摘自《群书治要》11
Excerpted from The Original Compilation of Qunshu Zhiyao 11
(Compilation of Books and Writings on the Important Governing Principles)

In the 1980s, a case occurred in Brussels, Belgium:

上世纪八十年代在比利时的布鲁塞尔出现一个案件：

A woman was seriously injured when she accidentally fell off a terrace in the middle of the night.

一名女子在半夜不慎掉下露台受重伤。

A man found the injured as he passed by, so he ransacked the defenseless injured woman. Then, he could not bear to see the woman dying of her serious injuries, so he called the police and left.

一名男子路过时候发现了伤者，于是洗劫了毫无反抗能力的受伤女子，然后又不忍女子伤重而亡，于是报警后离开。

But the incident was captured by nearby security cameras, and the police succeeded in capturing this man, and prosecuted him.

但事件的经过被附近的监控摄像头拍摄了下来，于是警察成功地抓获了这名男子，并予以起诉。

After four weeks of heated debate and discussion, the court finally judged him to be acquitted.

最后在经过长达四周的激烈辩论和商讨后，法庭做出该男子无罪释放的判决。

The declaration of judgment given by the judge at that time was stated as follows:

当时法官给予的判决宣言是这样陈述的：

Everyone has a vulnerable and dark side deeply inside.

每个人的内心深处都有脆弱和阴暗的一面，

Compared to saving life, his robbery of property is worth nothing.

相对于拯救生命而言，抢劫财物不值一提。

Although legally, we should not forgive one's sin for his good deeds, if he is convicted, it will have an extremely negative impact on the whole social order!

虽然单纯从法律上说，我们的确不应该为了一个人的善行而赦免其犯下的罪恶，但是如果判决他有罪，将会对整个社会秩序产生极度负面的影响！

I'd rather see the next robber save a life than see law-abiding innocents turn a blind eye to the suffering of others.

我宁愿看到下一个抢劫犯拯救了一个生命，也不愿看见奉公守法的无罪者对于他人所受的苦难视而不见！

So on the face, the court simply pardons a robber, but more profoundly, it encourages saving lives and helping the injured, promotes the whole society to maintain a good atmosphere.

所以从表面上看，法庭仅仅是单纯地赦免了一个抢劫犯，但更深远的是对救死扶伤的鼓励，是对整个社会保持良好风气的促进作用。

If the judge only mechanically followed the law, and severely punished the criminals, did not consider the guiding role to the people in the whole society. That would be to encourage the people to go in a bad direction.

如果这个法官只是机械地按照律法去执行，严惩罪犯，不去考虑整个社会民众的导向作用，那就等于鼓励民众往坏的方向发展。

In China, an old man fell down in the street. A kindly man took him to a hospital, then the old man blamed him, saying that the rescuer had knocked him down.

在中国，在街上一位老人摔倒了，好心人把他送到医院去，老人就赖他，说是救人者把他撞倒了。

Of course, the rescue side did not admit it as there was no evidence.

救人的一方当然不承认，因为没有证据啊！

The judge then asked him, "If you don't knock him down, why do you take him to the hospital?" For this reason, the rescuer was finally sentenced to compensate the elderly man tens of thousands RMB.

法官就问他：“既然你没有撞倒他，那为什么还把他送到医院去？”以这样的理由，最后判救人者赔偿了老人几万块钱。

Doesn't this sentence encourage people to do bad things? That is to say, people's virtue is not important, profit is more important, and profit is more important than virtue! How bad is the impact of such a case?

这样判，不是鼓励人去干坏事吗？也就是说人的德行不重要，利益更重要，重利不重德！这样的案件，造成了多坏的影响呢？

Today in China, when people see someone falling down in the street, no one dares to pick him up. Why? Fear! People feel afraid of getting caught up.

现在的中国人在大街上看到人倒了，都没有人敢搭理他。为什么？害怕呀！都怕被赖上了。

So there are people who call the police, but no one dares to help him directly.

所以报警的人是有，但是就没有人敢直接帮助他。

A while ago, I saw a news story. A man was hit by a car， and fell down less than 100 meters far away from the hospital, but no one dared to take him to the hospital. He lay on the ground for hours, and the hospital didn’t send an ambulance.

前阵子看到一个新闻，一个人被汽车撞倒了，就倒在离医院不到100米的地方，但没有人敢去把他送到医院。他在地上躺了好几个小时，医院也没有派救护车来，

Finally, the police arrived, one policeman could not carry him, also dare not to move him, so he called another policeman with a stretcher.

好不容易等来警察，一个警察搬不动，也不敢动，又叫其他的警察担架来。

Throughout the process, hundreds of onlookers watched, but no one dared to move him. Feeling afraid, they were afraid that they would be blamed if anything happened to him.

整个过程中，上百人围观，但没有人敢动他。怕呀，怕他出了什么事都赖上自己呀。

This story is so chilling! This man lying on the ground, what did he think? He was in pain at the time, and he wasn't in a coma.

太让人心寒了！这个躺在地上的人，你说怎么想？他那个时候很痛苦，他也没有昏迷。

Think about this, a man is lying on the ground, so many people were watching him, and the hospital was nearby, but no one was there to save him.

你想想，一个人躺在地上，这么多的人围观他，医院就在门口，没有人救他。

How do you think if it was you lying there? What would you think of this society? When human morality comes to such a point, what is the meaning of living?

你说如果是你躺在那里，你会怎么想？你会对这个社会作何想法？人的道德到了这样的地步，活着有啥意思？

So numb! So cold and uncaring! That's why a strong nation must first be strong in virtue!

那么麻木！那么冷漠、无情！所以说，强国要先强德啊！

If everyone's moral quality is really improved, this country will surely flourish. The happiness index of everyone’s life will also increase significantly.

如果大家的道德素质真正都提上去了，这个国家一定会兴盛的，大家生活的幸福指数也会明显提高。

备注：
翻译： 离观 2022-02-07
校对：koala 2022-3-23