The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Workers’ rights activist Andy Hall says he intends to sue for unlawful prosecution and perjury after Thailand’s Supreme Court dismissed a criminal defamation case against him.
The charges brought by the attorney general and Natural Fruit Co Ltd related to an interview the Finnwatch researcher gave to Al-Jazeera in Myanmar in April 2013 concerning his earlier criminal prosecution by Natural Fruit Company Ltd.
The case had already been dismissed twice by two lower courts on the grounds of flawed unlawful interrogation processes during police investigation of the case and given the allegedly defamatory act was committed in Myanmar.
Hall (36), who grew up in Spalding and whose parents Des and Pat still live in the town, said: “Following dismissal of the case, I have no choice but to now launch counter litigation against Natural Fruit, the prosecutor, police and the attorney general for unlawful prosecution and for perjury.
“I do so with deep regret and not at all in anger or through any desire for personal retribution. It is necessary to launch these counter prosecutions simply because I must defend myself fully against judicial harassment by Natural Fruit that shows no signs of abating.”
In September, in a separate case, the Bangkok South Criminal Court found Hall guilty of charges of criminal defamation by publication and computer crimes brought by Natural Fruit. He got a suspended three-year jail sentence and was fined 150,000 baht.
Finnwatch executive director Sonja Vartiala said: “The Supreme Court’s ruling is, of course, a huge relief but it does not vindicate Hall’s earlier conviction and suspended prison sentence in a case also brought by Natural Fruit less than two months ago.
“However, the campaign of judicial harassment that has been waged against Andy Hall for almost four years now has already sadly been successful. As many have feared, this campaign has also had a negative impact far beyond the case of Andy himself. We have heard from a number of migrant workers and activists how they are now deeply afraid to speak out on abuse workers face from Thai employers after Andy Hall’s recent conviction.
“A real stain has been placed on Thailand’s reputation, in particular as an acceptable country to do business in. Companies which source from Thailand need to think really hard whether they can be confident that they can adequately monitor their supply chains when the voices of workers and those who defend them are being chillingly silenced.”
Hall and his legal team are currently preparing to appeal the conviction on grounds of both fact and law but have yet to receive a written copy of the verdict.
