BEIJING, Jan 22: A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced two men to death and gave stiff jail terms to 19 others over a milk scandal that led to widespread poisoning of babies in China and dairy recalls around the world.

The former head of the dairy firm at the heart of the scandal, Tian Wenhua, a 66-year-old woman accused of initially covering it up, was among the three people jailed for life.

Another person was given a suspended death penalty, a sentence that routinely gets commuted to life in jail, while the rest were imprisoned for terms ranging from two to 15 years, state-run CCTV news reported.

The 21 people went on trial for their involvement in making or selling the contaminated milk that last year killed at least six babies and left 296,000 others ill with kidney and urinary tract problems.

“They got the penalty they deserved, but I feel sorry about this whole affair,” Liu Donglin, the father of a sickened baby, said outside one of the courts in northern China where the verdicts were delivered.

“I think they are scapegoats. The milk producers’ association and the people in charge of checking the milk should also be punished.”

Relatives and lawyers have questioned why no government officials were charged, or how the massive scandal that involved 22 dairy companies could lead to charges against only 21 people.

“The relevant government authorities should be punished too,” Liu said.

The footage broadcast on CCTV showed the defendants wearing yellow prison coats with heads bowed.The two men given the death penalty were found guilty of endangering public security by adding the industrial chemical melamine to the milk and then selling it on to middle men.

The melamine, normally used to make plastics, was added to watered-down milk to give it the appearance of higher protein content.

Sanlu Group, formerly headed by Tian, was the first and biggest of the 22 dairy producers found to have sold dairy products laced with melamine.—AFP