A/HRC/41/43/Add.1 2016, alleging that they had been subject to abuses at a poultry farm, leading the company to file a defamation lawsuit against the workers. The charges brought against the workers by the company were eventually dismissed and not proceeded on by the courts in 2018. However, in March 2019, the Bangkok Criminal Court agreed to hear new defamation charges brought by the company against 2 of the 14 workers. At the time of completing the present report, the trial was due to start in May 2019. 37. While the company pursued defamation charges, it was ordered to pay the past wages of the 14 workers. Appeals by the company against the order were rejected by the Supreme Court of Thailand in September 2017 and in January 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the company to pay the wages to the 14 workers immediately. 38. On 17 May 2018, the Working Group joined a joint press statement with other special procedures mandate holders to call attention to the case of Andy Hall and the charges brought against him by the Thammakaset Company and the Natural Fruit Company.5 39. Mr. Hall, a prominent human rights defender, was convicted in September 2016 on charges of criminal defamation and offences under the Computer Crime Act for his work as the primary researcher for a report published by a Finnish non-governmental organization, Finnwatch, entitled “Cheap has a high price”, which documented serious allegations of rights violations, including the trafficking of migrant workers. He was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of B200,000 (approximately $6,000). The sentence was later reduced by one year, with two years suspended, and the fine reduced to B150,000. Mr. Hall also faced further action when, on 26 March 2018, a Bangkok court ordered him to pay B10 million (approximately $320,000) in damages to the Natural Fruit Company in a related civil lawsuit, together with legal and court fees. 40. Since 2016, the Thammakaset Company has also filed defamation lawsuits against Mr. Hall and other journalists for their work in support of the 14 migrant workers, who allege they have suffered labour rights abuses at the poultry farm owned by the company. 41. In respect to those cases, the Government informed the Working Group that the Ministry of Labour had swiftly organized a thorough inspection of the Natural Fruit Company, with interpreters present to ensure the accuracy of the information collected. The Government had also conducted an investigation into the allegations against the Thammakaset Company and found some labour rights abuses (non-payment of the minimum wage, of overtime payments and of payment for working on official holidays), but no evidence of the use of forced labour as claimed by the workers. The company was instructed to pay the 14 workers in total B1.73 million (approximately $49,430). 42. The Working Group also met with civil society representatives, who informed them of the case of Tungkum Ltd., in which six criminal defamation cases had been brought against residents and members of the Khon Rak Ban Kerd Group in Loei province. 6 The Working Group was seriously concerned about the defamation case brought by Tungkum against a 15-year-old child who had taken part in a youth camp on environmental protection and narrated a news snapshot on the Thai Public Broadcasting Service. The Working Group was also concerned to hear that Tungkum had also filed cases against journalists involved in the airing of that broadcast. 43. Another prominent issue that was brought to the attention of the Working Group concerned five criminal defamation cases brought by the Akara Resources Public Company, a subsidiary of Kingsgate Consolidated, against community leaders and activists in relation to mining operations in Phichit province. While the Government has taken action to close the environmentally damaging gold mine, it still needs to take action against the use of litigation, especially litigation against those who were protesting against the environmental damage the mine was causing. 5 6 10 See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23095&LangID=E. See www.fidh.org/en/issues/human-rights-defenders/thailand-ongoing-judicial-harassment-againstseven-krbkg-members.