113 Penalised Over Chemical Tainted Pork
CHINA - Central China's Henan Province, a leading agricultural base, has issued heavy sentences to 113 people, including 77 government employees, over a chemical tainted pork scandal reported in March.
28 November 2011
2 minute read
Their punishments varied from jail terms to reprieved death penalty, the provincial higher people's court said in a press release Friday night, 25 November.
The main culprit, Liu Xiang, was sentenced to death with two years' reprieve on conviction of harming public safety, it said.
Mr Xiang's clandestine workshop producing clenbuterol, a carcinogenic chemical added to pig feed to produce leaner pork, was seized in Henan's Xiangyang city on March 25, 10 days after he was prosecuted, the court said.
Mr Xiang's collaborator, Xi Zhongjie, was sentenced to life, it said.
Liu and Xi invested 50,000 yuan (US$7,845) each in clenbuterol production in 2007 and sold the chemical to pig dealers for huge profits.
