Milk scandal: closed door trial for seeking justice for sick children
Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) – The trial of Zhao Lianhai 'began yesterday in Beijing. Zhao is the leader of the Kidney Stone Babies that brings together parents of children ill from drinking milk with melamine. The authorities are attempting to try him in silence and the police even banned his wife from seeing her husband and threw her out of the court.
Zhao is accused of "being an agitator that caused unrest," to have held illegal meetings and shouted slogans to cause problems and to have seriously disturbed the social order ", a crime that carries up to 5 years in prison. In reality, he gave legal advice to families and victims of toxic milk to help them take action in court to get fair compensation. The trial took place behind closed doors, to prevent the participation of the many people sympathetic to the pro-rights activist.
His lawyers said he was led handcuffed into court like a dangerous criminal. Zhao has protested his innocence and told the judges that "if reporting a crime to the police is a crime .... then we live in a society very dangerous. " In February, the milk scandal erupted again, when it appeared that at least 5 dairy producers have continued to use toxic milk. Outside the court, the parents say this is the result of the state’s attempts to stifle the 2008 scandal. Li, after hours in a persistent drizzle, was unable even to see her husband. She commented sadly to the South China Morning Post that "we are the victims. The authorities want to avoid the problem and, instead, they target us. Do not have a conscience? "
Li Xuemei, Zhao's wife, waited for hours outside the court in Daxing District, along with their 5 year old son Pengrui and dozens of journalists and supporters. As a police car presumably carrying Zhao pulled up in the morning, supporters shouted his name.
Pengrui drank milk containing melamine (plastic substance used in industry but poisonous to humans) and now has a calculation of 2 mm in right kidney. In September 2008 the scandal broke of leading dairy industries that put melamine in milk to make it appear rich in nutrients in quality control, because its molecule is similar to that of the protein. For having drank this milk about 300 thousand children have fallen ill and at least 6 have died (Zhao spoke of 12 confirmed deaths). At first the state promised adequate compensation, but then gave 2 only thousand yuan (about 210 euros) to each family, a sum entirely inadequate to cover the necessary medical care over the years. Many parents have turned to the courts to seek further compensation, but the court ruled their actions "unacceptable" because the claims were still being investigated by the authorities. Other parents of this group have been threatened by the authorities and some arrested.
For this reason Zhao and other lawyers tried to organize the families seeking compensation for their children. The activist was arrested Nov. 13 in front of his child and since then has not been seen by his family.
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