Courageous human rights defender Andy Hall leaves Spalding tomorrow to face the threat of eight years in jail and fines totalling £8million.
Courageous human rights defender Andy Hall leaves Spalding tomorrow to face the threat of eight years in jail and fines totalling £8million.
Andy (34) is embroiled in a series of court cases in Thailand after exposing alleged abuses suffered by migrant workers in that country’s food industry, one of the leading suppliers to Western supermarkets.
Evidence in a defamation case was given between September 2-10 and Andy could face up to a year’s jail if found guilty. Three further hearings are pending under the more serious computer crime act and each carries a sentence of up to seven years in jail.
The court has allowed Andy to leave Thailand and he came home on the 11th to spend time in Spalding with his parents, Des and Pat, and sister Jo.
Andy said: “It was nice to come away. It was a very long couple of weeks because I didn’t sleep very much. You get all of the documents at the last minute and you have to read them.”
Although confident of winning the court cases, Andy knows there is a risk of jail and spending years in a crowded cell with up to 150 inmates.
He also knows he could just walk away from it all and stay in Britain.
But Andy says: “If I was to run away, it would be like admitting defeat. None of this is about me, it’s not about me, it’s about migrant issues.
“I am certain that I am going to win because I told the truth and I didn’t do anything wrong.
“I am looking forward to the day when I win the case – I think it will be a landmark day for everyone.”
Lawsuits against Andy were brought by a company called Natural Fruit after he co-wrote a report in which migrants made accusations about child labour, unlawfully low wages, passports being confiscated and physical beatings.
Andy says he doesn’t see the British supermarkets or the British Government doing much about his case or the migrant issues at its heart.
He said: “They keep their distance from me, all of these supermarkets do. As to the British Government, it’s a distraction for them. If they could avoid me they would do, but I won’t let them. It’s their responsibility to protect human rights defenders.”
Spalding-born Andy left Grammar School and gained a first-class honours degree in law at University College London before completing a PhD in corporate and social responsibility in Melbourne and Cardiff. He first went to Thailand as a back-packer.