| Three Death Sentences in Chinese Milk Scandal By DAVID BARBOZA Published: January 22, 2009 BEIJING -- A group of high-ranking dairy company executives and middlemen were sentenced by a Chinese court on Thursday to long jail terms, life in prison and, for three individuals, the death penalty for endangering public safety last year by selling and producing tainted milk products, according to the state-run news media. The court said members of the group had intentionally produced and sold fake or substandard dairy products laced with a toxic chemical called melamine, which the government says sickened about 300,000 children and caused the death of at least six in one of the worst food safety scandals in China in decades. The harshest sentences were given to Zhang Yujun, a dairy middleman who the government called one of the "principal criminals" in the scandal. He was sentenced to death after being convicted of selling 600 tons of melamine-tainted "protein powder" to dairy companies. Another dairy producer, Geng Jinpin, was also sentenced to death. A third man received the death penalty with a two-year reprieve, which means he could be spared execution. Tian Wenhua, the 66-year-old former chairwoman of the Sanlu Group, one of China's biggest dairy companies, was sentenced to life in prison for her failure to stop producing and selling the tainted goods even after her company learned that the products were flawed. She was the highest-ranking corporate executive brought to trial last year. She pleaded guilty to the charge of failing to act properly in the case. She was also fined about $3 million. Three other former executives at Sanlu, once the nation's leading producer of baby formula, were sentenced to five to 15 years in prison for their roles in the scandal. One of those executives appeared at the Intermediate People's Court in Shijiazhuang late last year in a wheelchair after what the Chinese state-controlled media said was a failed suicide attempt. The tough sentences were the government's latest effort to deal with a scandal that erupted last September, triggering a global recall of Chinese-made dairy products, shaking consumer confidence and devastating the nation's fast-growing dairy industry. But parents of some victims of the scandal protested Thursday afternoon outside the courthouse in the northern Chinese city of Shijiazhuang, where Sanlu is headquartered, saying they were dissatisfied with the verdict. "I feel sorry for them, but they are just scapegoats," said Liu Donglin, 28, who says his 21-month old son suffered from kidney stones after drinking tainted milk powder. "The ones who should take the responsibility are the government, like the quality supervision bureau and the Health Ministry. I spent nearly $3,000 taking care of my son and the government only compensated me with $300." Some lawyers and victims of the scandal have accused Beijing of failing to properly regulate the nation's dairy industry and some believe the government covered up the scandal before the Beijing Olympics last August, disclosing the news in September. Former Sanlu officials acknowledged in testimony last month that they knew there were complaints and serious problems with their dairy products as early as May of last year. But the government has placed the blame on a group of unscrupulous dairy company executives, farmers and middlemen who prosecutors say intentionally sold goods spiked with melamine to save money and increase profits. Melamine, which is used to produce plastics and fertilizer, was often added as a cheap filler or replacement for protein powder. The dairy scandal has angered many consumers here and is so sensitive in China that the government has tried to calm angry protesters and parents. On Thursday, police in Beijing even attempted to detain or block parents from traveling to Shijiazhuang to listen to the verdicts. Foreign journalists have also been barred from attending some of the court sessions. A group of China's biggest dairy companies agreed late last year to compensate victims of the scandal, but some parents have rejected the settlement offer, saying it was too little and that their children face long-term health problems. Many children suffered from kidney stones and other ailments after consuming formula contaminated with extremely high levels of melamine. The Sanlu Group, which was jointly owned by the Fonterra Group of New Zealand, filed for bankruptcy protection late last year. But Thursday, the court in Shijiazhuang fined the company $7.3 million for its role in the scandal. Chen Yang contributed research from Shanghai and Xie Qing from Beijing. http://www. rinf. com/forum/showthread. php?t=7122 |
China's version of the FDA has TEETH
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