Death Sentences Handed Down in Tainted Milk Scandal
CNN.com
January 22, 2009
A Chinese court sentenced Tian Wenhua, former board chairwoman and general manager of the Chinese dairy company Sanlu Group, to life in prison for her role in a tainted milk scandal that killed at least six infants and sickened nearly 300,000 others.
Three people were sentenced to death and two others to life in prison for their roles, while three others received prison terms of five to 15 years each. Many of those sentenced were middlemen who sold melamine to milking stations that added the chemical to the milk. Security was tight ahead of the verdicts as police set up roadblocks a kilometer (0.63 miles) in each direction from the courthouse.
Twenty-one suspects went on trial late last month, including Tian Wenhua, former board chairwoman and general manager of the Chinese dairy company Sanlu Group, who pleaded guilty Dec. 31 for her role in the scandal. The company was one of the main distributors of the tainted milk, which caused kidney stones and urinary tract problems in hundreds of thousands of children.
Tian and three other executives are on trial for producing and selling fake or substandard products. The other executives—former deputy general managers Wang Yuliang and Hang Zhiqi, and Wu Jusheng, a former executive heading Sanlu’s milk division—were arrested in late September.
From early August to mid-September, Sanlu produced 904 metric tons of melamine-tainted baby formula powder and sold 813 metric tons of tainted products made with contaminated milk, Xinhua reported.
Chinese investigators found melamine in nearly 70 milk products from more than 20 companies, according to quality control official Li Changjiang, who was eventually forced to resign. The Ministry of Health has said the contamination likely caused the deaths of at least six babies. Another 296,000 infants suffered from urinary problems, such as kidney stones.
The tainted formula came to light in September after babies who were fed milk powder produced by the Sanlu Group, which recently filed for bankruptcy, had developed kidney stones.
Melamine is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Some Chinese dairy plants added the chemical to milk products so they would appear to have a higher protein level. Victims of tainted baby formula are expected to be compensated by the 22 Chinese dairy producers that made the milk.
“The enterprises offered to shoulder the compensation liability,” the country’s Dairy Industry Association said late last month, according to Xinhua. “By doing so, they hope to earn understanding and forgiveness of the families of the sickened children.”
The group said victims will receive a one-time cash payment but did not provide the amounts, according to Xinhua. No date for the payments was given. The dairies also raised money to cover medical bills for any after-effects suffered as a result of the poisoning, the association said.
