BEIJING: Chinese courts sentenced two men to death and three other defendants, including a top dairy company executive, to life in prison on Thursday for endangering public safety in a tainted milk scandal that killed at least six children, according to state-run news media.
Another defendant received a suspended death sentence and 15 others, mostly dairy producers and middlemen, were given terms ranging from two years to life in prison. In all, 21 people were sentenced for their roles in one of the worst food-safety scandals in China in decades.
The Intermediate People's Court in Shijiazhuang, in the northern province of Hebei, said the defendants had intentionally produced or sold dairy products laced with a toxic chemical called melamine, which was used to give falsely high protein readings but caused kidney stones and other ailments in about 300,000 children last year.
Among those sentenced to death was Zhang Yujun, a dairy middleman whom the government called one of the "principal criminals." He had been 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, Gao Junjie, received a death sentence 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 20 million yuan, or about $3 million.
Three other former executives at Sanlu, once China's leading producer of baby formula, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 5 to 15 years for their roles in the scandal.
One of those executives appeared in court late last year in a wheelchair after what the state-controlled media said was a failed suicide attempt.
The other five defendants received jail sentences ranging from five years to life. 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 protested Thursday afternoon outside the courthouse in 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, whose 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 20,000 yuan taking care of my son, and the government only compensated me with 2,000."
Some lawyers and victims have accused Beijing of failing to properly regulate the dairy industry, and some believe the government covered up the scandal before the Olympics in August, only 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 case has angered many consumers and is so sensitive that the government has tried to calm angry protesters and parents. On Thursday, the 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 that it was too little and that their children faced long-term health problems.
Many children suffered from kidney stones or kidney failure 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 50 million yuan for its role in the scandal.
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