Chairwoman in melamine case

By Chen Li | January 1, 2009, Thursday |

Print Edition

THE former board chairwoman of the Chinese dairy maker at the heart of a nationwide tainted milk scandal went on trial yesterday and may face life in prison if found guilty.

Tian Wenhua, Sanlu's former board chairwoman and general manager, stood on trial along with three other former company executives at a court in Shijiazhuang City, the capital of north China's Hebei Province, on charges of producing and selling milk contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine.

One of the defendants, Wang Yuliang, a former deputy general manager at Sanlu, appeared in a wheelchair after he lost the use of his legs in an attempt to commit suicide, according to Xinhua news agency. The defendants could be imprisoned for life if the court finds them guilty.

At least six children have died and more than 294,000 other infants became ill from the contaminated milk scare that has involved 22 Chinese dairy producers since September.

Melamine, an industrial compound used in making plastic products, was added to food to cheat at nutrition tests. Its high nitrogen content inflates protein readings without adding any protein.

Prosecutors accused executives at the Shijiazhuang-based Sanlu, partly owned by New Zealand's Fonterra group, of covering up evidence and not reporting the case to superiors when they were aware the milk they made contained the toxic chemical.

Production at Sanlu was never halted after the company officially learned about the case, prosecutors said.

However, the Hebei native Tian argued that she was not aware of many details about her company's production problems as these were shouldered by "related technical departments," the woman told the court.

She added that she learned of consumer complaints about the milk in mid-May, and set up a team to handle the case.

She emphasized that her company notified the Shijiazhuang government about the melamine case at least two times before authorities ordered Sanlu to suspend production on September 12. A bankruptcy petition for Sanlu has been filed in the face of 1.1 billion yuan (US$161 million) in debts.

"Sanlu started to pay medical costs to those sick children even before the melamine-tainted milk was confirmed as the cause of their kidney stone problems," Tian told the three judges at court.

Melamine can cause kidney stones and possible life-threatening kidney failure.

It is not known how long the trial at the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court will last or when the verdict will be announced.

Some families of affected children from across the country have traveled to the city and gathered at the court's gates to wait for the verdict.

Nation

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Chairwoman in melamine case

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