Those who lost babies say dairy executives won't pay heavily enough for the crimes Parents of babies who were made sick by tainted infant formula were furious yesterday at the 'light sentences' given to Sanlu dairy executives by a Hebei court, which they were barred from going near. Parents from Henan , Guizhou , Gansu and Beijing arrived in the Hebei provincial capital of Shijiazhuang early yesterday morning to try to enter the Intermediate People's Court to hear the verdict, but were denied seats. Roads were blocked, and parents and unregistered journalists were banned from going near the courthouse. The court ordered former Sanlu chairwoman Tian Wenhua to serve a life sentence, the maximum penalty allowed on the charge of 'manufacturing and selling substandard goods'. Three other high-ranking executives will spend five to 15 years behind bars for their roles. Sanlu Group was among 22 dairy companies that sold milk products tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical added to food to boost milk's nitrogen content, allowing it to pass testing for protein levels. Raising a sheet of paper that read 'Give me back my child' and 'Punish all those responsible' outside the police blockade, Zheng Shuzhen , 60, wept upon hearing the sentence and the treatment the parents received. 'She [Tian] killed my granddaughter and made so many babies in China ill. She deserves the death sentence. If my granddaughter died, she should not live,' Ms Zheng said. Ms Zheng's one-year-old granddaughter, who drank Sanlu baby formula from birth, was diagnosed with stones in both kidneys and died in June. Doctors in Zhengzhou told her after the scandal was exposed in September that the formula was to blame. She said she was also angry that parents were denied the right to watch a supposedly open trial, and were barred from getting within a block of the courthouse. Zhao Lianhai , 36, the father of an ill three-year-old boy in Beijing, who gave up his full-time job to campaign for redress, was dismayed and said he saw no justice. 'Tian Wenhua should have been charged with 'endangering public safety with dangerous means' as many legal experts argued, but she was charged instead with the lighter 'manufacturing and selling substandard goods', which excluded the death sentence,' Mr Zhao said. 'I have been against the death penalty, but in this case she deserves it.' Sanlu and the 21 other dairies implicated in the crisis offered 200,000 yuan (HK$227,000) compensation for the death of a child, 30,000 yuan for children suffering from serious illnesses like kidney stones and acute kidney failure, and 2,000 yuan for less severe cases. Last week a Gansu couple who lost their son because of contaminated milk became the first to accept compensation, surrendering their right to sue over their child's death. But other parents have rejected the offer as too low and demanded life-long health care for the sick babies. The scandal has been widely covered by foreign media since it broke last September. Hao Erlong , a 30-year-old taxi driver, said that even though Sanlu was important to the local economy, most people he talked to thought the group had committed unforgivable crimes and nothing short of the death penalty would be suitable punishment for the worst offenders. Turning sour The penalties handed down by the court yesterday bring an end to the melamine saga that left at least six babies dead and many thousands ill The milk sellers Geng Jinping: Death Geng Jinzhu: 8 years The Sanlu executives Tian Wenhua: Life in jail Wang Yiliang: 15 years Hang Zhiqi: 8 years Wu Jusheng: 5 years The melamine saga Sep 9 Beijing reveals that 14 babies who drank Sanlu milk powder fell ill in Gansu over previous two months. Other cases emerge around mainland Sep 17 Tian Wenhua, general manager of Sanlu, detained on criminal charges; Shijiazhuang mayor Ji Chuntang resigns Sep 19 Sanlu comes top of list of 22 firms which test positive for melamine-laced milk power. It and fellow dairy firms Mengniu and Yili also test positive for melamine in ordinary milk. Mengniu issues blanket recall Sep 22 Number of sick babies rises to 53,000, with at least four dead. Li Changjiang, minister in charge of quality control, forced to resign and Shijiazhuang party chief Wu Xianguo dismissed; overseas countries start to ban Chinese dairy products Dec 5 Officials report dairy exports dropped more than 90 per cent in October Dec 24 Sanlu declared bankrupt Dec 27 Dairy association and the 22 dairy firms involved announce compensation package for victims Dec 31 Trial of four Sanlu company executives starts Jan 17 Gansu couple who lost infant son become first to accept a Sanlu payout Jan 22 12 people convicted of charges related to melamine scandal, and handed punishments ranging from jail terms to death penalty
