BRITISH migrant rights activist Andy Hall was held in a court cell for two hours yesterday before being bailed in a fresh criminal defamation case brought by a large Thai processing company.
The district court in Prakanong accepted the case that Thailand's Attorney General is now prosecuting on behalf of Natural Fruit Co. Hall's passport was confiscated by the court yesterday.
The latest criminal defamation count, arising from an interview Hall gave to the Aljazeera news outlet in Burma early last year, brings to four the number of charges brought by the company against the 34-year-old Briton using criminal defamation, civil defamation and the controversial Computer Crimes Act.
As well as a lengthy jail term, Hall also faces a claim for 300 million baht in compensation.
Thailand's two leading seafood associations, the Thai Frozen Foods Association (TFFA) and Thai Tuna Industry Association (TTIA), have agreed to guarantee Hall's bail sureties, confirm the organisations' ''support for the work of human rights activists who investigate rights abuses for the benefit of society.''
The unusual cases are proceeding at a time when labor standards and conditions in Thailand are coming under intense international scrutiny.
Natural Fruit made its first allegations about Hall after an investigation and report by Finnwatch into conditions at the Natural Fruit plant in Prachuap Khiri Khan province. Finnwatch focuses on corporate responsibility in developing countries.
Hall was a researcher and one of the authors of the report, 'Cheap Has a High Price,' which examined the production of pineapple concentrate for Finnish markets.
Finnwatch Executive Director Sonja Vartiala said yesterday: ''Finnwatch is very disappointed about the court's decision to accept the case. Such criminal charges are judicial harassment against a human rights defender.''
Legal experts say the Computer Crimes Act was intended for use against computer hackers and people who misuse online data. In most Western democracies, defamation remains a civil rather than a criminal process.
The district court in Prakanong accepted the case that Thailand's Attorney General is now prosecuting on behalf of Natural Fruit Co. Hall's passport was confiscated by the court yesterday.
The latest criminal defamation count, arising from an interview Hall gave to the Aljazeera news outlet in Burma early last year, brings to four the number of charges brought by the company against the 34-year-old Briton using criminal defamation, civil defamation and the controversial Computer Crimes Act.
As well as a lengthy jail term, Hall also faces a claim for 300 million baht in compensation.
Thailand's two leading seafood associations, the Thai Frozen Foods Association (TFFA) and Thai Tuna Industry Association (TTIA), have agreed to guarantee Hall's bail sureties, confirm the organisations' ''support for the work of human rights activists who investigate rights abuses for the benefit of society.''
The unusual cases are proceeding at a time when labor standards and conditions in Thailand are coming under intense international scrutiny.
Natural Fruit made its first allegations about Hall after an investigation and report by Finnwatch into conditions at the Natural Fruit plant in Prachuap Khiri Khan province. Finnwatch focuses on corporate responsibility in developing countries.
Hall was a researcher and one of the authors of the report, 'Cheap Has a High Price,' which examined the production of pineapple concentrate for Finnish markets.
Finnwatch Executive Director Sonja Vartiala said yesterday: ''Finnwatch is very disappointed about the court's decision to accept the case. Such criminal charges are judicial harassment against a human rights defender.''
Legal experts say the Computer Crimes Act was intended for use against computer hackers and people who misuse online data. In most Western democracies, defamation remains a civil rather than a criminal process.
Many of those who heroically try to change the status-quo are thwarted by the denizens of power, unwilling to relinquish their sordid death grip on the throats of the oppressed, unless physically forced to.
Posted by farang888 on June 20, 2014 05:40