Cases against Hall stemmed from a 2013 report he researched that alleged labour abuses by the company, Natural Fruit.

A Thai appeals court has vindicated a British labour rights activist entangled in a years-long legal confrontation with a fruit-packing company after he publicised alleged human rights violations at its factory.

The legal victory for Andy Hall on Thursday was welcomed by UK-based rights group Amnesty International but is not necessarily the end of protracted court battles that forced him to leave Thailand in 2016.

On Twitter, Hall said he had previously lost hope of justice but now a “flame was reignited in my heart”.

“There is still the possibility that today’s verdict could lead in some way to peace and reconciliation,” he said.

A criminal defamation and other cases against Hall stemmed from a 2013 report he researched for Finnish consumer organisation Finnwatch that alleged labour abuses at Natural Fruit’s pineapple canning operation. It employed migrant workers from Myanmar who said the company abused them and broke labour regulations.

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Sunya Joongdee, a lawyer for Hall, said the court ruling dismissed the criminal defamation case, which also resulted in the collapse of a case under Thailand’s computer crimes law. It outlaws publishing what is deemed false information online.

He said the court accepted that Hall’s interviews with migrant workers revealed allegations of rights violations that should be made public. Hall was found guilty of criminal defamation in 2016, fined and given a suspended prison sentence.

Appeal possible

Natural Fruit, owned by businessman Wirat Piyapornpaiboon, can appeal to the Supreme Court. Other cases brought by both sides as the legal battle escalated are still before the courts.

Amnesty International’s Thailand campaigner, Katherine Gerson, said the ruling should be followed with the repeal of the criminal defamation law to prevent companies using the courts to harass activists who campaign against abusive corporate practices.

“This successful appeal is very welcome, and it underlines how the original conviction against Andy Hall was an abuse of justice that should never have been allowed,” she said in a statement.

Finnwatch also welcomed the ruling. Its executive director, Sonja Vartiala, said the appeal court’s decision was a “much-needed acknowledgement” that Hall’s work researching allegations of human rights abuses against migrant workers was legitimate and in the public interest.