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Special Report: Slave labor crackdown in Shanxi

SHANGHAI, Jul 5 -- BRICK-kiln foreman Heng Tinghan denied the charge of manslaughter in a slave laborer's death during yesterday's trial in a Shanxi court, Xinhua news agency reported today.

The trial of five people charged in connection with the slave labor scandal at brick kilns in north China's Shanxi Province began yesterday.

Heng said he was not responsible for a worker's death because he was in Henan at the time.

The worker, tentatively identified as Liu Bao from Gansu Province, was hit on the head by an iron shovel because he worked slowly. The mentally handicapped Liu died in November and was buried in the remote barren hills behind the brick kiln.

Heng said he didn't order others to beat slave workers, and he never beat workers even if they tried to escape.

"I didn't assault the workers," Heng told the court, according to the Oriental Morning Post.

He said Zhao Yanbing, another defendant in the case, liked torturing the workers, so he always blamed Zhao for the wrongdoing, the report said.

But Heng's son Heng Mingyang, also a defendant in the case, told the judge that his father always beat workers.

Heng Tinghan also claimed the slave workers in the kiln were free to go shopping in town without escorts, but he couldn't explain why the workers were under surveillance while on the job or at night while sleeping. Heng Tinghan also couldn't explain why the work place was locked, the report said.

Another defendant, kiln boss Wang Bingbing, claimed he made contributions in the case, the report said, without providing details.

Those on trial at the Intermediate People's Court of Linfen City were Wang Bingbing, Heng Tinghan and employees Zhao Yanbing, Heng Mingyang and Liu Dongsheng.

The People's Procuratorate of Linfen City said Heng Tinghan, Zhao and Liu were charged with illegal detention and manslaughter, while Heng Mingyang and Wang face illegal detention charges.

The judge didn't announce a verdict at yesterday's trial.

Public prosecutors alleged that Heng Tinghan, a native of Henan Province, and Wang, owner of the Santiaogou brick kiln in Caosheng Village, Hongtong County, began their cooperation in 2006. They agreed that Heng would be responsible for labor and production at the brick kiln owned by Wang, according to Xinhua news agency.

In the weeks that followed, Heng allegedly lured 32 rural laborers from railway stations in Zhengzhou in Henan, and Xi'an in Shaanxi Province as well as Yuncheng in Shanxi, promising to help them find jobs. They then forced them to work in the brick kiln at Hongtong County.

The workers, aged between 14 to 58 years, were from 12 regions across China. There were seven mentally handicapped people among them.

Heng Tinghan assigned the task of supervising the forced laborers to his son, Heng Mingyang, Zhao and Liu.

The laborers were forced to work long hours with poor food and no pay. Dogs were used to prevent them from escaping. Many received burns and other injuries working in the hot kiln.

The forced labor scandal sparked a nationwide outcry and the central government ordered an immediate probe.

So far, 359 people, including 12 children, have been rescued from illegal kilns in Shanxi and police had arrested 38 people as of June 22. They include the widely reported rescue on May 27 of 31 people in Wang's kiln.