Yet again the Chinese government and court system fail to impress, by imprisoning an advocate of human rights. Zhao Lianhai was found guilty of "inciting social disorder" after founding a website called Kidnet Stone Babies to give information and resources for parents to babies that have gotten ill following the Chinese milk scandal in 2008. As always it was covered up to a large extent to not damage the view of China during the Olympic games in Beijing 2008. 300,000 Chinese babies were made ill, 50,000 hospitalised and at least 6 died after drinking milk formula deliberately tainted with melamine. Melamine is plastics and fertiliser and was added to make test show a higher protein content in the milk.After the scandal a handful of farmers, milk dealers and executives at Sanlu, the dairy firm that sold the tainted milk, has been jailed or executed, but the sentences for detained government officials have never been announced.
Zhao Lianhai was sentenced to two-and-a-half year in jail for organising the website and for demanding compensation for the victims. How this is "inciting social disorder" is beyond me. But this seem to be a convenient "crime" that is used by the Chinese government to dispose of dissidents and human rights activists.
[China] [Milk Scandal] [Democracy] Share on Facebook
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