Bangkok South Criminal Court today announced a shock guilty verdict against British migrant rights defender Andy Hall in a criminal defamation and Computer Crimes Act charges case brought against him by Natural Fruit Company Ltd. The Court found Andy Hall guilty for defamation, sentenced him to prison for four years and ordered him to pay 150 000 baht fine. Imprisonment will be suspended for 2 years.
Andy Hall will appeal the ruling and apply for bail.
The charges related to publication of a report Cheap Has a High Price in 2013 by Finnwatch, a Finnish civil society organisation. The report outlined allegations of serious human rights violations at Natural Fruit's pineapple processing plant in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province in Thailand.
”We are shocked by today's verdict. The report was authored and published by Finnwatch; we take full responsibility for it. Andy has been made a scapegoat in order to stifle other voices that speak out legitimately in support of migrant worker rights,” said Sonja Vartiala, Executive Director of Finnwatch.
”This is a sad day for freedom of expression in Thailand. We fear that many other human rights defenders and victims of company abuse will be scared to silence by this ruling,” added Vartiala.
”Thailand's laws that allow for criminal punishment and even imprisonment for defamation are in clear breach of Thailand's international human rights obligations. Instead of allowing companies to take human rights defenders to criminal courts for alleged defamation, Thailand needs to thoroughly follow through on allegations of violations of migrant workers' rights.”
In October 2014, the Prakanong Court in Bangkok dismissed another criminal defamation case brought by Natural Fruit against Andy Hall on the grounds of a flawed prosecution that was in breach of the Thai Criminal Procedure Law. Appeals in this case, submitted by both Natural Fruit and Thailand's Attorney General, are currently being considered by Thailand's Supreme Court after the Appeals Court threw out an initial appeal in September 2015.
In addition to the two criminal cases, Natural Fruit has also filed two civil claims for damages against Andy Hall totalling 400 million baht (approximately 10 million euros). These cases have been but on hold until the corresponding criminal cases have been concluded.