A human rights activist from Spalding has one of four charges against him dismissed.
Andy Hall was facing defamation charges brought by Natural Fruit Company Ltd, but last week The Prakanong Court in Bangkok dismissed the charges due to an unlawful interrogation process under section 120 of the criminal procedure code.
Pineapple export factory Natural Fruit has launched multiple criminal and civil prosecutions against Mr Hall since February 2013 as a result of his contribution to a Finnwatch report published in 2013. The report revealed serious human rights violations at Natural Fruit’s pineapple juice production facilities.
During Mr Hall’s trial, the court heard from a former worker of Natural Fruit who testified that the factory was hiring underaged children and paid unlawfully low salaries to its workers.
The case verdict last Wednesday (October 29) concerning an interview Mr Hall gave to Aljazeera on his criminal prosecutions is just the first of four cases filed against him by Natural Fruit.
The second case, a $10m civil defamation case, is underway at Nakhon Pathom Court.
The third case, computer crimes act and criminal defamation charges, will proceed on November 17 at the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court.
Dates for a fourth $4m civil case have not yet been confirmed.
If Mr Hall is found guilty of the additional criminal and civil cases, he could face up to seven years in prison and be forced to pay millions of Euros compensation.
Sonja Vartiala, executive director of Finnwatch, said: “The court hearings were yet another confirmation that, as Finnwatch’s report revealed, there are serious problems in working conditions at Natural Fruit.
“The question that now must be asked is why Thailand’s authorities have not taken action against the company.
“Finnwatch demands Natural Fruit now drop all the charges against Andy Hall. Instead of allowing companies to bring human rights activists to court, Thailand needs to prosecute companies like Natural Fruit, who are violating labour rights.”
