BEIJING - Six men who worked as enforcers in brick kilns said they were ordered to beat "lazy" workers, who were forced to labor for as long as 18 hours a day, state media reported.
The men were the latest to go on trial in connection with China's slave labor scandal, which erupted last month after hundreds of parents complained their children were being forced to work in brick kilns in Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces.
The six men said Friday they were ordered by kiln foreman Heng Tinghan to supervise the workers and beat the "lazy" ones, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Shifts for the laborers began at 5 a.m. and lasted until as late as 11 p.m., one of the enforcers testified.
Between March and late May, 18 workers were injured, one seriously, prosecutors said.
Heng's wife also went on trial Friday on charges of harboring a criminal, Xinhua reported.
No verdicts were reached in the court in Hongtong County of northern China's Shanxi province.
Heng, kiln boss Wang Bingbing and three employees were still on trial in the Intermediate People's Court of Linfen City of Shanxi province.
People's Daily has quoted Wang as saying the operation originally had employed local workers, but began using those provided by human traffickers last year after falling into debt.
Wang's father was a village-level Communist Party secretary, and he was expelled from the party after the scandal broke.
Different courts in Shanxi province have tried another 29 people so far in connection with the forced labor scandal, Xinhua said. No verdicts have been reached in any of the cases.
Close to 1,000 workers were released following police raids over recent months. Premier Wen Jiabao has ordered a thorough probe and punishment of kiln owners and officials who abetted their activities.
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