Beijing - Courts in northern China's Hebei province on
Friday tried six people accused of crimes linked to melamine-tainted
milk powder, which apparently led to the death of at least six
infants.
The Intermediate People's Court in Shijiazhuang city tried Zhang
Yujun on charges of producing 775.6 tons of melamine-laced powder
used to increase the protein content of milk, state media said.
Zhang sold more than 600 tons of the powder for 6.83 million yuan
(998,000 dollars) to dairy producers, the agency quoted prosecutors
as saying.
The court also heard charges that Zhang Yanzhang had bought and
sold 230 tons of the powder to milk dealers in Shijiazhuang and three
other cities in Hebei.
Some of the dealers added the powder to raw milk that was then
sold to the Shijiazhuang-based Sanlu group, one of China's major
dairy produce retailers.
Local courts in three counties near Shijiazhuang also tried four
more milk dealers who had added melamine-laced powder to fresh milk
sold to Sanlu, the agency said.
The four courts did not announce when they will make their
verdicts public, it said.
Hebei police have arrested at least a dozen others linked to
contaminated milk powder produced by Sanlu, which was declared
bankrupt earlier this week with debts of 1.1 billion yuan (161
million dollars) after ceasing production in September.
Baby milk powder contaminated with melamine led to the death of at
least six infants in China earlier this year and is believed to have
sickened more than 294,000 others, according to the health ministry.
Most of those treated had consumed baby milk powder made by Sanlu.
The Shijiazhuang court is scheduled to try Tian Wenhua, the former
general manager of Sanlu, next week.
Government officials said Sanlu knew about the contamination of
milk powder with melamine since March but didn't order a national
recall of the powder until September.
Health inspectors also found illegal levels of melamine in some
liquid milk and yoghurt sold by three other leading dairy producers -
Yili, Mengniu and Bright Dairy.
Melamine is used as a binding agent and coating for particle,
fibre and laminated board in furniture. It is also used to make
fertilizer.
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