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THE last day of the year turned out to be the longest in Tian Wenhua's life.
The former chairman and general manager of dairy firm Sanlu Group did not deny the charge of producing and
selling fake or substandard products.
But the 66-year-old told the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court in Hebei province that she did not try to
cover up the tainted-milk scandal.
"I would never hide any such news," she said in Hebei dialect, moving the microphone closer to her mouth. "In fact, I submitted two written reports (on the contamination) to the city government."
She bowed to the court to seek forgiveness from the victims of the tainted-milk products.
Tian's Hebei lawyer Liu Xinwei said that she had done her utmost to minimise the effects of the tainted milk.
Tian cried when she saw Wang Yuliang, one of her former seniormanagers, moved by court staff from a stretcher
to a wheelchair.
However, prosecutors said Tian was not telling the truth.
At least three sources said that at a meeting on Aug 1, she had ordered news of the milk contamination to be kept secret.
Wang and another former Sanlu executive told the court that Tian had ordered that the contamination be kept a
secret because it could prove disastrous for the company and have a negative impact on the Beijing Olympic Games if it became public.
But Tian denied the accusation, saying that no one at the meeting talked about a cover-up.
It was decided at the meeting that 2,764,661kg of contaminated baby-milk food would be "sealed".
And the Sanlu management had sent its employees to agents and retailers to get back the tainted products.
Tian also said she submitted two written reports on the contamination to the local government on Aug 2 and 29, and
claimed to have discussed the matter with local officials several times during that month. - CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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