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A photo taken on Dec. 26, 2008 shows the headquarters building of Sanlu Group, the center for China's melamine adulteration milk scandal, in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province. A bankruptcy petition for Sanlu has been filed as it faced 1.1 billion yuan (around 160 million USD)of debt, the Shijiazhuang city government said Thursday.(Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)Photo Gallery>>> |
SHIJIAZHUANG, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Six people involved
in China's melamine adulteration milk scandal went on trial on Friday in four
courts in northern Hebei Province.
At the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court,
prosecutors charged Zhang Yujun and Zhang Yanzhang of having committed a crime
against public security.
The two Zhangs are not related.
The court was told 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 (998,000
U.S. dollars), the court heard.
Zhang Yanzhang, a native from the same county as
Zhang Yujun, bought the protein powder from the latter and resold 230 tonnes.
The "protein powder" was sold to milk collectors in
Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Xingtai and Zhangjiakou cities in Hebei. Some collectors
added it to raw milk and sold it to Shijiazhuang-based Sanlu Group, the
country's major dairy at the center of the tainted milk scandal.
Both Zhangs expressed remorse during the six-hour
hearing. Zhang Yujun asked for leniency and the chance to correct his errors and
make a fresh start.
Four others also went on trial in three courts in
Wuji, Xingtang and Zhaoxian counties on Friday.
Zhang Heshe and Zhang Taizhen were accused of adding
35 kg of "protein powder" to 70 tonnes of raw milk and selling the tainted milk
to Sanlu, the Wuji County court heard.
Yang Jingmin and Gu Guoping were each charged with
adding 24 kg of the additive to 40 tonnes and 16.7 kg to 120 tonnes. They also
sold the adulterated milk to Sanlu.
The courts will announce the verdicts on an
unspecified date.
Sanlu products were found to contain melamine, which
was being used to increase the apparent protein content in milk. The use of the
industrial chemical is restricted in food.
Children can develop kidney stones after drinking
such milk.
Tian Wenhua, Sanlu's former board chairwoman and
general manager, will go on trial next Wednesday in the Shijiazhuang
Intermediate People's Court.
Sanlu stopped production on Sept. 12. A bankruptcy
petition for Sanlu has been filed as it faced 1.1 billion yuan of debt, the
Shijiazhuang city government said Thursday.
The Ministry of Health has said it was likely the contamination killed six babies. Another 294,000 infants suffered from urinary problems such as kidney stones.
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A photo taken on Dec. 26, 2008 shows the buildings of Sanlu Group, the center for China's melamine adulteration milk scandal, in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province. A bankruptcy petition for Sanlu has been filed as it faced 1.1 billion yuan (around 160 million USD) of debt, the Shijiazhuang city government said Thursday. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)
Photo Gallery>>> |
China milk scandal firm faces huge
debts
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Saleswomen check the returned Sanlu
brand milk powders in a supermarket in Yinchuan, capital of northwest
China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Sept. 17, 2008.A Chinese court has
accepted a bankruptcy petition for Sanlu Group which was at the center of
a tainted milk scandal and is facing huge debts, an official said
Thursday. (Xinhua/Liu Quanlong)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
SHIJIAZHUANG, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese court has
accepted a bankruptcy petition for Sanlu Group which was at the center of a
tainted milk scandal and is facing huge debts, an official said Thursday.
Wang Jianguo, spokesman for the city government of
Hebei provincial capital Shijiazhuang, said the Intermediate People's Court of
Shijiazhuang City has accepted the petition made by the Heipingxi Road branch of
Shijiazhuang City Commercial Bank - a creditor of Sanlu. Full story
China milk scandal firm submits
bankruptcy application
SHIJIAZHUANG, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese court has
accepted a bankruptcy petition for Sanlu Group which was at the center of a
tainted milk scandal and is facing huge debts, an official said Thursday.
Wang Jianguo, spokesman for the city government of
Hebei provincial capital Shijiazhuang, said the Intermediate People's Court of
Shijiazhuang City has accepted the petition made by the Heipingxi Road branch of
Shijiazhuang City Commercial Bank - a creditor of Sanlu. Full story
China law to recognize mental
distress, reflects milk scandal
BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature
might add mental distress to conditions covered by the Tort Law to improve civil
rights protection, under legislation submitted on Monday.
The long-awaited draft Tort Law, designed to provide
compensation for those whose rights are violated, was tabled at the 11th
National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee for a second reading. Full story
China plans compensation after tainted
milk scandal
BEIJING, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- A compensation scheme
for families of sickened and dead babies in the tainted milk powder scandal,
which caused a food safety scare in China, is under review, a Health Ministry
spokesman said on Wednesday.
The ministry is collecting medical records and
checking statistics to make preparations for compensation, spokesman Mao Qun'an
told reporters. Full story
Almost 1,300 Chinese infants still
hospitalized from tainted milk
BEIJING, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of
Health said on Wednesday that 1,272 infants nationwide were still receiving
hospital treatment for kidney disorders caused by tainted powdered milk.
Two were in serious condition, the ministry said on
its website. Full story
