A human rights campaigner facing trial in Thailand has said he is confident he will “win” when the case comes to court in May.
Andy Hall, formerly of Spalding and whose family still live in the town, could face up to seven years in a Thai prison if found guilty of criminal defamation and computer crimes.
The charges relate to a report which accused Thai pineapple processing firm Natural Fruit of worker abuses.
Mr Hall led a team of interviewers who spoke to factory workers about the conditions they were working under.
The report, published in January 2013, led almost immediately to Natural Fruit launching a series of court cases against Mr Hall, the most serious of which is the defamation and computer crimes one he is now facing.
He appeared in court in Bangkok last week where he was indicted on the charges and a date was set for trial.
The hearing lasted five hours and included a lot of wrangling over who his translator would be because the court had brought a Burmese translator who didn’t speak enough English.
While the court initially refused to switch, Hall has now been assigned a translator who worked with him on previous cases.
“It’s really scary how this happens in the Thai court system every day,” he said after the hearing.
Hall pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and the nine days of defence he has been granted in May’s trial came after he had initially requested 12 days to present all of his witnesses and evidence.
“I am confident that at the end of the day I am going to win all of these cases, all I did was do research and I reported what the migrants said,” Hall said.
Thailand’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors rely heavily on migrant labour, with some migrants living in conditions that amount to modern day slavery.
Up to three million Burmese migrant workers live in the country, making them a key focus of Hall’s work.
Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division Deputy Director Phil Robertson said the targeting of Hall reflects the exacerbation he has caused among powerful circles through his successful efforts to shine a light on pervasive labour rights violations.
He said: “He’s consistently stood up for the rights of migrant workers in Thailand and that has earned him enemies among political and business elites who are not amused at people examining the way workers are treated in their supply chain.”
