Melamine scandal - defendants in court

Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily  |   2008-12-30  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

FOUR people involved in China's tainted dairy scandal were charged with endangering public security at a local court yesterday in Shijia°?zhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province.

The Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court began the hearing at 8am for Gao Junjie, Xue Jianzhong, Zhang Yanjun and Xiao Yu, Gao's wife. The court heard the four produced and sold more than 200 tons of "protein powder" that was made of melamine, malt dextrin and whey powder.

In August 2007, Gao and Xue allegedly bought six tons of protein powder for more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,462) a ton and sold the powder for profit.

Unsatisfied with the profit from the transaction, Gao, Zhang and Xiao allegedly decided to develop protein powder of their own under the direction of Xue. The four allegedly produced more than 200 tons of the powder between December 2007 and August 2008.

The powder was added to milk to increase protein levels.

The prosecution argued that the protein powder produced and sold by the four brought about serious damage to the health of consumers - especially infants - and that the four should be punished for endangering public security.

The court agreed and charged the four with the offence, which could mean at least 10 years in jail or even the death penalty.

Five other suspects involved in the scandal went on trial in three local courts in Hebei yesterday, facing charges of producing and selling poisonous food.

The courts have not announced verdicts against any of the nine suspects.

Tian Wenhua, former board chairwoman and general manager of Sanlu Group, the company that was at the heart of the scandal, will face trial tomorrow in the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court.

Tian faces charges of producing and selling fake or substandard commodities, according to court sources.

Shijiazhuang-based Sanlu Group stopped production on September 12. A bankruptcy petition for Sanlu has been filed in the face of an 1.1-billion-yuan debt, according to the Shijiazhuang government.

Last Friday, six people involved in the scandal stood trial in four courts in Hebei on charges of producing, selling or adding protein powder that contained melamine to raw milk. The courts have not announced the verdicts.

The Ministry of Health has said it was likely the contamination killed six babies. Another 294,000 infants suffered from urinary problems such as kidney stones.

A 200-million-yuan compensation fund was set up by 22 dairy producers, including the Sanlu Group, and will begin operation next month.

The 22 dairy producers sold products tainted with the industrial chemical known as melamine that is used in manufacturing plastics.

Victims who fell ill or relatives of those who died after drinking the baby formula will soon get compensation from the fund, operated by China Life Insurance under the management of the Dairy Industry Association, according to a report of China Business News.