British labour rights activist Andy Hall has been sentenced to three years suspended jail time and a fine after being found guilty of defaming a Thai pineapple wholesaler that supplies the European Union.

Hall’s suspended sentence means he is unlikely to serve any time in jail but the ruling in Bangkok will set a precedent for Thai firms accused of worker’s rights issues being able to go after activists with defamation cases, a criminal charge in Thailand.

The trial related to the publication of a report Hall researched for the Finnish NGO Finnwatch, released in January 2013 and titled Cheap Has a High Price. It made claims of violence against employees, forced overtime, and confiscation of passports of Burmese migrants.

“We are shocked by today’s verdict. The report was authored and published by Finnwatch; we take full responsibility for it. Andy has been made a scapegoat in order to stifle other voices that speak out legitimately in support of migrant worker rights,” said Sonja Vartiala, executive director of Finnwatch.

“This is a sad day for freedom of expression in Thailand. We fear that many other human rights defenders and victims of company abuse will be scared to silence by this ruling,” added Vartiala.

Hall said on Twitter that he will appeal against the sentence.

I fully respect court decision today but strongly disagree with the decision also. Shall use my right of appeal to fight to clear my name. — Andy Hall (@Atomicalandy) September 20, 2016

While Hall worked as a consultant for Finnwatch, his defence team argued that he did not author or publish the report.

Bangkok’s south criminal court ordered Hall to pay a 150,000 baht (£3,330) fine, as part of a sentencing that ended hearings stretching over almost four years. The charges brought against him carried maximum penalties of up to seven years imprisonment.

In addition to the two criminal cases, Natural Fruit has also filed two civil claims for damages against Hall totalling 400m baht (close to £9m).

Natural Fruit denies all allegations set against it in the report. It asserts that Hall damaged the company by “broadcasting false statements to public media.”

Hall, 36 from Spalding, Lincolnshire, told the Guardian before the verdict he was confident of an acquittal. “I believe the court will see there is a very strong public interest in the report,” he said.



With a PhD from Cardiff University, Hall has worked in Myanmar and Thailand on migration policy issues and speaks Thai fluently.

He is also supporting the defence of two Burmese migrant workers accused of murdering two Britons on the Thai island of Koh Tao last year as well as other cases involving expatriate workers in Thailand.

Thailand has a poor record on labour rights, especially for foreigners from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, who receive little protection. Workers who raise complaints are often targeted by their employers.

Outrageous and embarrassing for #Thailand that court convicted rights advocate Andy Hall @Atomicalandy this am - serious injustice done — Phil Robertson (@Reaproy) September 20, 2016

“Andy Hall coordinated important research about abuses of workers’ rights in Thailand and he should never have been prosecuted for his actions,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

He said the long and intensive court fight has “had a distinctly chilling effect on other activists pressing for the protection of workers’ rights in Thai companies, many of which export their products to foreign consumers.”

Human Rights Watch said criminal defamation laws should be abolished, as criminal penalties are always disproportionate punishments for reputational harm and infringe on free expression.