Lighter sentence for melamine boss
Print Edition
FORMER dairy tycoon Tian Wenhua, sentenced to life in prison for her role in the melamine milk scandal that shocked China in 2008, has had her life sentence reduced to 18 years because of good behavior.
The former chairwoman of the Sanlu Group was found guilty of producing melamine-tainted milk powder and hiding the truth from the public at a trial on January 22, 2009.
The tainted products killed at least six babies and sickened about 300,000 others across the country.
Hebei Provincial Women’s Prison told Xinhua news agency yesterday that Tian, 72, had strictly followed rules and performed well, earning two commutations.
Under Tian’s leadership, Sanlu, based in Shijiazhuang, capital of her native province of Hebei in north China, had been China’s leading seller of milk powder for 15 years until the melamine scandal broke in September 2008.
Police found that Sanlu had received 1,327 complaints between December 2007 and August 2008, with 62 cases of babies suffering problems such as blood in their urine and kidney stones. But Tian told a court that the company had decided to keep this from the public.
The scandal finally came to light after the health department in Gansu Province was told of an increasing number of cases of kidney stones in infants and a subsequent report by the former Ministry of Health said many of the babies had been fed with Sanlu products.
An investigation found that melamine, a chemical used to make plastics, had been added to Sanlu’s baby milk powder to raise its protein content.
On December 31, 2008, Tian stood trial along with three other company executives at Shijiazhuang Intermediate People’s Court.
Former deputy general managers Wang Yuliang and Hang Zhiqi, and Wu Jusheng, a former executive in charge of the firm’s milk division, were jailed for 15 years, eight years and five years respectively.
Among another 17 people involved in the scandal, Zhang Yujun, a dairy farmer, and Geng Jinping, a milk salesman, were sentenced to death. They were executed on November 24, 2009.
The scandal caused the downfall of nearly 30 local officials for dereliction of duty, covering up the scandal or not taking proper action.
However, yesterday’s Chongqing Youth News said that many of the officials involved had regained official government posts.
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