Fifteen people were convicted by a local court in
Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong
Province, on Wednesday for producing and selling toxic liquor
that left 14 people dead and 41 sick.
The Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court sentenced
Cheng Caiming, a 26-year-old native of Guangning, to death and
confiscated all of his personal property. Two of his employees,
Cheng Shihao and Mo Hairong, were sentenced to four and three years
and fined 3,000 yuan (US$363) and 2,000 yuan (US$242)
respectively.
The court heard that Cheng Caiming bought 15
barrels of industrial alcohol from a local chemical firm between
March and May last year for his Guangzhou company, Juhe Chemicals
Co. Ltd., which he registered in January 2001.
As was his usual practice, Cheng removed the labels
from the barrels and disguised them as drinkable alcohol before
selling them to Yi Xinling, who later sold them on to four owners
of illegal breweries.
Fourteen people were killed after drinking the
liquor produced and 41 others were made ill, 10 seriously.
Yi was sentenced to 13 years in jail, and the four
brewery owners were given sentences of nine to 12 years and fined
7,000-10,000 yuan (US$840-1,200) each. Seven brewery workers were
sentenced to imprisonment for between18 months and five years.
Sixty-two plaintiffs, the poison victims and their
relatives, received compensation ranging from 3,000 to 190,000 yuan
(US$363-22,800) each.
The case was first heard by the Guangzhou
Intermediate People's Court from December 7 to 9 last year.
(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2005)