First death sentence for melamine milk

Shijiazhuang (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The first death sentence and life imprisonment has been passed in the trial into the poisoned milk scandal that left 7 babies dead and 300 thousand others gravely ill with kidney stones and other ailments.

Early this afternoon (local time) Shijiazhuang court condemned to death Zhang Yujun for having produced and sold “protein powder” containing melamine. The people’s court also condemned to life imprison Zhang Yanzhang, who bought and sold on the formula.

The two men are the first of 21 awaiting sentencing, among them the president of Sanlu, on of the biggest producers and distributors of baby formula incriminated along with another 20 companies.

The prosecution said that Zhang Yujun, a native of Quzhou County, (Hebei) had raised cattle since July 2007 and concocted the so-called protein powder by mixing the chemical melamine and malt starch. The cattle farmer allegedly produced 775.6 tonnes of "protein powder" that contained melamine from October 2007 through August 2008 and sold more than 600 tonnes with a total value of 6.83 million Yuan (999,000 U.S. dollars). Zhang Yanzhang, a native from the same county, bought the protein powder from the latter and resold 230 tonnes

Later this afternoon the court is due to rule on Sanlu president, Tian Wenhua, 66 the highest profile personality involved in the scandal. Tian has pleaded guilty to charges of producing and selling fake or substandard products. Tian also admitted that she knew of problems with her company's products for months before informing authorities. The scandal was exposed in September 2008, but local authorities – and even Beijing – knew of the situation for some time before, perhaps as early as July 2008- But in order to save China’s image ahead of the Olympics, authorities sat on the scandal, allowing it to emerge only in the wake of the games.

Yesterday dozens of parents with affected children attempted to gain access to the trial but were stopped by police. In recent months many parents have attempted to open a case for damages against the accused companies, but so far no court has accepted their case.

The central government fears that parent malcontent could erupt into a social revolt.