Chinese police detain tainted milk activist
Police detained the father of a child sickened by tainted milk apparently to prevent him and other parents from holding a news conference to complain that proposed compensation for their ill children is too low, a lawyer said Friday.
Dairies announced details of a 1.1 billion yuan ($160 million) compensation plan this week as at least 17 people went on trial for the contamination that killed at least six children and sickened nearly 300,000 others. The milk contained melamine, an industrial chemical that caused kidney stones in children.
Twenty-two dairies implicated in the scandal sent a mass New Year's text-message to Chinese mobile phone users apologizing for the contamination. "We deeply express our grief, sincerely apologize and earnestly hope to be pardoned," the message said.
The news conference, scheduled for Friday, was called off after organizer Zhao Lianhai was picked up Thursday, said Li Fangping, a lawyer for some of the parents. He said Zhao was being held at a Beijing hotel.
"The purpose was to prevent the parents from holding a news conference," Li said, adding that 10 parents had planned to participate. Read more....