British Activist Found Guilty of Defamation After Reporting Alleged Labor Abuses in Thailand
Source: Time Magazine
British Activist Found Guilty of Defamation After Reporting Alleged Labor Abuses in Thailand
Feliz Solomon @felizysolo
1:53 AM ET
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A British activist has been dealt a suspended sentence of three years in Thailand on charges of defamation and computer crimes, a Bangkok court ruled Tuesday, in a surprise end to a case that has dragged on for nearly four years and stunned rights advocates.
Andy Hall, 36, was convicted of criminal defamation and violation of Thailand’s controversial Computer Crimes Act in relation to research he conducted for a report alleging serious labor abuses at a Thai pineapple processing plant, Natural Fruit.
The report, Cheap Has a High Price, accused a number of Thai factories of using forced labor, child labor, unfair wages and excessive overtime. These findings were published in 2013 by the NGO Finnwatch, a corporate watchdog that audits European suppliers. Food exports are a multi-billion dollar industry vital to the Thai economy, supplying major global markets such as the U.S., E.U. and Japan.
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Defamation is a criminal offense in Thailand, which has a number of anti-libel tools in its legal repertoire. Hall initially faced four charges leveled by Natural Fruit; two criminal cases were ruled on Tuesday while two civil suits remain in the courts, one seeking damages of about $10 million.
Read more: http://time.com/4500771/british-activist-andy-hall-migrant-labor-guilty-defamation/
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