Zhao Lianhai
Zhao Lianhai (赵连海) (* circa 1972 ) is a Chinese dissident, who used to work in a public authority for food quality and safety, and after the baby milk scandal in China 2008 a website about it began. In 2010, he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for disturbing public order. His own child, Pengrui (* circa 2005 ), became ill as a result of the melamine- tainted milk.
Activism and website
Zhao has been a leader in the movement of parents who fought for compensation and treatment for their damaged by the tainted milk children. He called for a national day of remembrance for the victims. He held in his home, a memorial service for parents whose children have been victims of the scandal, from.
He launched the website Home for Kidney Stone Babies ( jieshibaobao.com ) of his apartment in Daxing, near Beijing. The website was blocked in China.
Parents of children who have been harmed by the melamine- contaminated milk able to gather information on the site and talk about how they could complain. Zhao also pushed for increased research on the number of babies with kidney stones. The site also published a document from the Henan Department of Health, the workers had asked not to report the true number of occurred kidney stones. The website was also alleges that the autopsies of children had been rejected. In 2009, Zhao has published a petition in which he explained that the government-planned compensation payments are too low, especially in view of the still unknown long-term damage, also plans had not been compiled in consultation with the concerned parents. The petition was signed by several hundred parents.
The police and / or the Public Security Bureau harassed him, his wife, his mother, his brothers and sisters and honorary students. The government also broke meetings and a press conference.
Arrest, trial, imprisonment
It was mid-November 2009 arrested by the police. The arrest papers were his wife Li Xuemei passed on 21 December 2009, " to start quarrels and provoking trouble" with the prosecution. His case was handed over to the prosecutor in the spring of 2010. The case came before the court in Daxing in Beijing, his lawyers are Fangping Li and Peng Jian.
Zhao Lianhai was finally sentenced on 10 November 2010 to two and a half years in prison. Three incidents have been used at trial against him:
- Organization of a meeting of twelve parents
- Hold a poster in front of a factory and a court
- Giving interviews to the media in a public place
In protest, he began a hunger strike. Amnesty International condemned the sentence. Li Xuemei, his wife, announced that it would appeal.