Andy Hall (activist)

Andrew Jonathan Hall (born 30 October 1979 in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England) is a lawyer and a migration expert in South East Asia. He is based in Bangkok, Thailand. Hall has LL.B – 1st Class Honours Degree from University College London. He studied for a PhD from the Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) at Cardiff University, Wales and at the Criminology Department at the University of Melbourne. His thesis was looking at proposals to develop occupational health and safety (OHS) laws relating to organisational criminal responsibility for industrial deaths but he took leave of his PhD to assist migrant workers in Thailand.[1]

In early 2013 Hall was sued by Natural Fruit Company following the publication of the Finnwatch report "Cheap Has a High Price".[2] Hall had interviewed workers for the report, some of whom were undocumented migrants and reported poor working conditions, unlawfully low wages, confiscation of official documents, use of child labour and excessive overtime. Altogether Natural Fruit has brought four cases against Hall, for alleged defamation and computer crimes. Several human rights organisations and trade unions have condemned Natural Fruit's actions as judicial harassment and an attempt to silence a human rights defender, and called for the cases to be dropped.[3]

At Hall's July 2016 trial, Finnwatch testified that the report alleging human rights abuses by Natural Fruit Co was analysed, written, and published by NGO Finnwatch, not by Hall, who was hired merely as a local investigator.[4]

Lawsuits

Of the four lawsuits against Mr Hall, one has been ruled in his favour. On 18 September 2015, the Appeals Court ruled in favour of Mr Hall on the charge of defamation. The remaining three cases, including a criminal case, involve charges related to computer crime and defamation. If found guilty, Hall may face up to seven years in prison.[4]

On 20 September 2016 Hall was found guilty of criminal defamation and violation of Thailand's Computer Crimes Act. The court sentenced Hall to prison for four years and ordered him to pay a 150,000 baht fine. His prison sentence was reduced to three years and suspended for two years because of his record as a human rights defender. Hall will appeal the ruling.[5] The president of Natural Fruit, Wirat Piyapornpaiboon, commented on the ruling, saying, "No foreigner should think they have power above Thai sovereignty,..."[6]

References

  1. ↑ Andy Hall Retrieved 27.12.2015.
  2. ↑ Finnwatch (21 January 2013) Cheap has a high price: Responsibility problems relating to international private label products and food production in Thailand (Executive summary). Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  3. ↑ See for example Human Rights Watch (19 July 2015) Thailand: End Case Against Migrant Worker Activist Retrieved 31 July 2015; Finnwatch (19 July 2015) Thailand must end harassment of researchers and human rights defenders Retrieved 31 July 2015; International Centre for Trade Union Rights (29 October 2014) Andy Hall: a human rights defender who should never have been prosecuted Archived May 30, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 31 July 2015; Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (last updated 2 September 2014) Thailand: Public support for activist Andy Hall grows; trial for case files by Natural Fruit begins 2 Sept Retrieved 31 July 2015; .
  4. 1 2 Ashayagachat, Achara (13 July 2016). "Finnwatch takes heat for fruit report". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  5. ↑ "Andy Hall found guilty in a shock ruling by Bangkok court" (Press Release). Finnwatch. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "Activist Andy Hall found guilty of defamation". Bangkok Post. Agence France-Presse (AFP). 20 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.

External links

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