[JURIST] A Chinese police official said Wednesday that three people have been arrested for their involvement in the 2008 melamine-tainted milk scandal. The general manager of Lekang Dairy Co., Zhang Wenxue, as well as vice general manager Zhu Shuming and milk powder dealer Ma Shuangling have been arrested and charged with manufacturing and selling food that does not meet hygiene standards. Authorities said that Tong Tianhu, another vice general manager, would face the same charges. Lekang is one of three companies blacklisted by the Ministry of Health as a result of the tainted milk scandal. The arrests come amid concerns that tainted milk has reappeared in several areas.
In December, Beijing police issued a formal arrest warrant for Zhao Lianhai, a man who organized a website for parents whose children became ill from drinking the tainted, and charged him with picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Chinese courts began hearing tainted milk suits in late November, after families began filing individual claims. China’s Hebei Supreme Court ruled out the possibility of initiating a class action lawsuit on behalf of the contaminated milk victims in 2008. In November, a Chinese court sentenced two men to death for their roles in the scandal. A Chinese court in February declared Sanlu Group, the Chinese company that produced the melamine-tainted milk, bankrupt.