[Deathpenalty] death penalty news------worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 12



CHINA:

China ex-drug chief appeals death sentence--media


China's former food and drug safety chief, facing execution for corruption
amid a series of health scandals, has appealed against the death penalty,
media said on Tuesday.

Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of the State Food and Drug Administration, was
convicted in May on charges of taking bribes and dereliction of duty.

It was an unusually harsh sentence, reflecting the weight China is giving
to the issues of corruption and food safety as they grapple with the
fallout overseas from a series of safety breaches involving toxins in food
and other products.

A Beijing Intermediate People's Court imposed the death penalty on May 29
after convicting Zheng of taking bribes worth some 6.5 million yuan
($850,000) from eight companies.

"Zheng said in the appeal statement that he had taken the initiative to
confess and had a good attitude of admitting crimes, which deserved
leniency," the Beijing Times said, quoting unidentified sources.

Investigators found Zheng, 62, had lowered standards in renewing drug
production licences, leading to manufacture of fake drugs in a system
already plagued by corruption and regulatory loopholes.

It was the first time China had sentenced an official of Zheng's rank to
death since 2000. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said it reflected
the government's "determination to fight corruption".

The Beijing High People's Court, which is supposed to hear appeal cases
from the intermediate court, had no immediate comment.

Under Zheng's watch, dozens died in China from fake or bad drugs and food
products. In one of the most notorious cases, in 2004, at least 13 babies
died of malnutrition in Anhui province after being fed fake milk powder
with no nutritional value.

The safety of China's food, drugs and other products has since burst into
the international spotlight after wheat gluten and rice protein containing
melamine scrap was exported from China and mixed into pet food, causing
deaths of cats and dogs in the United States and leading to pet food
recalls.

(source: Reuters)