http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/21/world/asia/thailand-andy-hall-natural-fruit-verdict.html 2016-09-20 14:06:46 Thai Court Finds British Labor Activist Guilty of Defamation Andy Hall was sentenced to three years in prison in connection with his work on a report that accused a Thai company of violating its workers’ rights. === HONG KONG — A Thai court on Tuesday found a British labor activist guilty of defamation and computer crimes, a verdict that some experts and rights advocates predicted would harm efforts to protect migrant workers in Southeast Asia. The activist, Andy Hall, was sentenced to three years in prison and fined about $4,300 in connection with his work on a 2013 report by a Finnish advocacy group that accused Natural Fruit, based in But the court suspended the sentence for two years. That means Mr. Hall is effectively on probation and will go free if he commits no crimes during that time, said Sonja Vartiala, executive director of the advocacy group, Finnwatch. Human rights advocates said Tuesday that the case would impede efforts to investigate “Any company around the world that is concerned about human or labor rights abuses in their supply chain will have to take a real hard look at whether they want to source anything from Thailand going forward,” Brad Adams, the Asia director for the advocacy group Laurent Meillan, the acting regional representative for the United Nations Human Rights Office for Southeast Asia, called the ruling “very disturbing.” “Instead of prosecuting Mr. Hall, it would have been more appropriate to conduct an independent and thorough investigation into the serious allegations raised in the Finnwatch report,” Mr. Meillan said in a statement. Mr. Hall had interviewed migrants who worked at a Natural Fruit pineapple factory for the Finnwatch report, “ Among other reported abuses, the report said that the family of a worker who died from electric shock had received at most 10 percent of the financial compensation required by law. It also said the company had confiscated workers’ passports and forced them to pay deposits to get them back for trips home. The defamation charge against Mr. Hall was based on an interview he had given to Al Jazeera in connection with the report’s findings. The computer crimes charge stemmed from claims that he had uploaded confidential communications to Finnwatch’s website, which the organization has denied. Mr. Hall, 36, who has mostly lived in Thailand since 2005, said he planned to appeal the verdict. He said he had expected to be acquitted of all charges because his advocacy work benefited Thai society and migrant workers. “I respect the decision of the court, but I’m very disappointed in it,” he said by telephone after leaving the courthouse in Bangkok. He later The British Foreign Office said in an emailed statement that Britain “supports the right of human rights defenders to raise concerns about human rights violations without fear of reprisals or legal action to prevent public participation.” It said it would raise Mr. Hall’s case with Thailand and offer him support if needed. Kachin Komneeyawanich, the vice president for Natural Fruit, said Tuesday that he was happy with the verdict, saying that the report had caused “colossal” damage to the company’s profits and reputation. “We are fighting for our honor,” Mr. Kachin said by telephone. “We thank the court and the justice system for having mercy on us.” Natural Fruit has filed two civil claims against Mr. Hall seeking damages of about $11.5 million, according to Finnwatch. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of international political economy at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, said in an email that the ruling “sends signals to companies in labor-intensive industries that the law is on their side when it comes to labor repression.” Professor Thitinan also said that the decision appeared to undermine Thailand’s efforts to improve its score in a closely watched annual report by the American State Department that assesses countries’ efforts to combat human trafficking. An advocacy group in Australia, the Walk Free Foundation, estimated this year that about