World

Death sentences in China tainted milk case

by nehalarya | January 22, 2009 at 03:29 am

185 views | 62 Recommendations | 11 comments

A Chinese court sentenced three people to death and two others to life in prison for their roles in the country's tainted milk scandal, which killed at least six infants and sickened nearly 300,000 others.

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 on December 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.

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Miriam Mannak

at 23:39 on January 21st, 2009

Hm. Not really sure what to think about this, as I am not pro-death penalty at all. Yes, the people must be punished (very very hard) but I do not really believe in the 'eye for an eye' strategy. It will not bring back the dead children, neither will it make the damage undone.

Good post though - thanks!

Monique3 (not verified)

at 10:21 on January 22nd, 2009

Sorry, but as a mom I can not disagree more. Any one who hurts a child to that extend or kills a child should get the death penalty. That seems the only way to stop those who commit horrific crimes

Dave Keating

at 03:16 on January 22nd, 2009

China is actually the only country that executes more people than the US. And just five countries - China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the US - are responsible for 88% of known executions in the world.

Miriam Mannak

at 04:06 on January 22nd, 2009

One also needs to count the number of people on death row in the US. I am corresponding with a guy who has been waiting for his death sentence for over 21 years! And what is sad yet good is that he will probably be let off as he is fighting for his case and everything seems to go very nicely.

Blue Crush

at 06:09 on January 22nd, 2009

Wow! Considering the government knew about this, and didn't stop it earlier, I'm a little surprised to see death sentences. Will people with the government be charged too?

A list of sentences handed down by a Chinese court Thursday in China's tainted milk scandal (9 people have yet to be sentenced):
Sanlu Group
-- Tian Wenhua, former chairwoman: life, $3.6M fine
-- Wang Yuliang, former executive: 15 years, $3.5M
-- Hang Zhiqi, former executive: 8 years, $133,000
-- Wu Jisheng, former executive, 5 years, $88,000
-- Company: $7 million fine

Producers
-- Geng Jinping, milk producer: death, assets confiscated
-- Geng Jinzhu, milk producer, 8 years, $73,000

Middlemen
-- Zhang Yujun: death
-- Gao Junjie: death; sentence suspended 2 years pending review -- Zhang Yanzhang: life
-- Xue Jianzhong: life
-- Zhang Yanjun: 15 years
-- Xiao Yu: 5 years

Marisa Olivia

at 09:58 on January 22nd, 2009

Excellent to see the actually list of figures.

I think they issued death sentences probably because the government knew about it earlier. They will want to be seen as doing the utmost to punish the people who have tarnished their reputation publicly. It was alright so long as nothing was happening in the open and no one had been exposed, but now things are different, and people have to take the fall. Ministers have been put to death (or killed themselves) over similar scandals. It will be interesting to see how things unfold with respect to government employees - there's certain to be scapegoats there, as well. A harsh reality of government over there - law enforcement can be a terrifying thing.

Regardless of the crime, I don't think the death penalty will solve anything here.

Amy Judd

at 10:13 on January 22nd, 2009

Thanks for this.

So a producer and a middleman got death sentences, but the chairwoman and executives didn't? Does that seem odd to anyone else? Am I missing something here?

Marisa Olivia

at 10:16 on January 22nd, 2009

Such a great point... I wonder how much of those life sentences they'll actually end up serving. Really inspires faith in the law! Has anyone heard what the people who were affected think about this?

Barry Artiste

at 06:13 on January 22nd, 2009

Gotta say China certainly knows when to act, especially when the worlds eyes and media are upon them and trade dollars are solved with a lead bullet to the back of the head,

Barbara McPherson

at 10:03 on January 22nd, 2009

Barry, it's only in the back of the head if they don't need the eyes for scheduled transplants, then it's the heart, but only if they don't need the kidneys as well.

Amy Judd

at 10:11 on January 22nd, 2009

I am a little surprised by this sentence actually. Yes they did an awful thing and if they were in Canada, they would only get minimal jail time (my opinion), so at least they are getting punished. But sentenced to death... I don't know...