Human rights and workers’ rights campaigner Andy Hall says he will continue despite being handed a three-year suspended jail sentence in Thailand.
Mr Hall (36) was convicted last month on a criminal charge of defamation after carrying out research for a report critical of pay and conditions in a Thai fruit factory.
He maintains his innocence and his legal team, which has yet to be officially presented with the judgment, this week extended the time in which an appeal can be lodged.
The former Spalding Grammar School student is also awaiting a Supreme Court ruling over an alleged defamatory TV interview he gave, faces two civil actions for a total of £11million in damages, plus the possibility of being prosecuted over the publication of further research this summer about conditions at a chicken farm near Bangkok.
However, back with his parents this week (October 17) at the Spalding home he grew up in, he told The Voice that he draws comfort from certain progress since the report was published in January 2013.
“Things are a lot better in the factory,” he said. “And some companies which we were critical of have changed their ways.”
He added: “The verdict has had a negative impact on us but there’s a positive in that the case has been highlighted.”
Mr Hall claims he was convicted of something he was not initially charged with. He says three months after he was prosecuted, Finnwatch – the campaign group he was researching for – set up a blog about his case and uploaded a document which Natural Fruit and the Thai government took action against. Finnwatch said it took full responsibility.
Mr Hall said: “I didn’t do it and I shouldn’t have been convicted.”
Since his conviction on September 20, Mr Hall has been heartened by the amount of support received, including from European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and East Midlands MEP Glenis Wilmott.
He admits to feeling “tired” at the strain of the past four years but insisted that he would not be cowed.
“As long as what I do feels useful I’ll carry on,” he said. “If there’s a time it feels it’s not useful maybe I wouldn’t stay.
“I never think long term. I’ve never thought about getting old and a pension. When you live in such extreme poverty, you don’t think about such things.
“I don’t have any money. For long periods [doing human rights work in Thailand] I was earning no more than £200 per month.”
He added: “My parents have been very worried. It has put an extreme pressure on them.
“I have always been confident and I knew I wasn’t going to jail. But when the sentence was being being read out, until the last five seconds, I thought I was going to prison and I didn’t care at that point because of the injustice of it.”
His parents were shocked to hear news of the conviction when it filtered through to their home at 4am.
Mum Pat said: “We just couldn’t believe it. We’re very proud of what he does but you still worry because he’s so far away.”
His father, Des, said: “He’s a voice for millions and millions of migrant workers.”
Conviction report: https://spaldingvoice.co.uk/workers-rights-activist-andy-hall-vows-to-appeal-thai-court-conviction/
