Beijing - A court in northern China's Hebei province on
Wednesday tried the former head of a dairy producer at the heart of a
scandal over tainted milk powder linked to the death of six infants.
The court tried Tian Wenhua, the former general manager of Sanlu,
and three other senior executives on charges of 'producing and
selling fake or substandard commodities,' state media said.
The latest cases in the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court
followed trials this week and last week of 17 others accused of
producing, selling or adding melamine-laced 'protein powder' to milk,
or selling tainted milk.
Hebei courts have still not announce verdicts against the 17
defendants tried earlier.
Four defendants prosecuted Monday were charged with 'endangering
public security,' the most serious announced since the health
ministry said tainted milk powder was believed to have killed six
infants and sickened nearly 300,000 babies earlier this year.
Anyone convicted of endangering public security could be sentenced
to at least 10 years in jail or even to death, the official Xinhua
news agency reported from Shijiazhuang.
Milk dealers reportedly added melamine-laced protein powder to raw
milk that was sold to Shijiazhuang-based Sanlu, which was one of
China's major dairy produce retailers until the scandal broke.
Sanlu was declared bankrupt earlier last week with debts of 1.1
billion yuan (161 million dollars) after ceasing production in
September.
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.
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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