Zhao Lianhai's father and son outside the court

On 10 November 2010, human rights defender Mr Zhao Lianhai was sentenced by a court in Beijing, to two-and-a-half years in prison on charges of inciting social disorder.

Further Information

Mr Zhao's lawyer, Mr Li Fanping, stated that Zhao Lianhai plans to appeal the verdict and will begin a hunger strike in protest against the sentence.

Zhao Lianhai founded the website,˜Home for the Kidney Stone Babies", an online space set up to collect and provide information for the parents of children who became ill after drinking contaminated milk.

On 13 November 2009, Zhao Lianhai was detained on suspicion of making a public disturbance. He was tried in a closed court on 30 March 2010 in a trial which lasted six hours. He pleaded not-guilty to the charges.

Zhao Lianhai began defending the rights of those affected by the contaminated milk in 2008. Mr Zhao's son was one of at least 300,000 babies in China who became ill as a result of drinking deliberately contaminated milk from over 20 dairy producers.

50,000 children were hospitalised and at least six died after melamine, an industrial chemical, was added to poor quality milk to give it a higher protein reading. When added to food, melamine a chemical used to make plastic and fertilizers - can cause kidney stones and kidney failure.

Zhao Lianhai assisted parents of other affected children to seek better compensation and improved treatment. He also set up a self-help group for parents and helped them file a lawsuit (which was unsuccessful) against 22 dairy companies involved in producing the contaminated milk.

In September 2008 Zhao Lianhai set up ˜Home for the Kidney Stone Babies, a website which documented individual cases and field reports, offered advice on taking legal action against those companies responsible, and facilitated networking of parents whose children became ill.

Front Line is concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr Zhao as he faces a further one and-a-half years in prison.

Front Line believes that he has been targeted because of his legitimate work campaigning for justice for those, whose children were directly affected by the contaminated milk.