Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the reasons for which Andy Hall is being prosecuted in Thailand.

On 24 August, Bangkok’s Criminal Court indicted Mr Hall for criminal defamation and violating the Computer Crimes Act. Charges were brought by the Natural Fruit Company Ltd, but Thailand’s Attorney General later joined the prosecution. Our Embassy observed this hearing along with counterparts from other EU Embassies. The Court summoned Mr Hall to appear next on 19 October.

The charges relate to an Aljazeera interview Mr Hall gave in Rangoon, Burma in which he discussed his involvement in conducting research for Finnwatch’s 2013 report, Cheap Has a High Price. This examined workers’ rights and possible abuses in the fruit industry in Thailand.