The report alleging human rights abuses by local firm Natural Fruit Co was analysed, written, and published by NGO Finnwatch, not its hired British investigator, the NGO told a court yesterday.
Sonja Vartiala, executive director of the Finnish civic organisation which focuses on global corporate responsibility, said Andy Hall, the defendant in a defamation case brought by the fruit exporter, was hired to interview 10 workers in the canned-pineapple factory while his two Finnish assistants, whose names also appeared in the January 2012 report, supplied background research and related writing.
"Henry Purje and I were responsible for analysing, writing and publishing [the report]. It's not Mr Hall," Ms Vartiala told the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court yesterday.
The report "Cheap Has A High Price" was sent to Finnish and Thai government agencies and Finnish retailers. Mr Hall told the trial in June that migrants hired by a factory in Prachuap Khiri Khan were underage and underpaid, and included a 15-year-old girl.
The initial information about Natural Fruit was supplied by Finland's top retailer, SOK Corporation, which has a 50% market share of retail products in the country, she told the court.
SOK bought Natural Fruit's products via a supply chain starting with a Finnish firm called VIP Juicemaker Oy, which imported them from a Dutch company, Refresco.
Refresco, meanwhile, bought the products from an Israeli firm, Prodalim Group, which imported them from Natural Fruit, the court was told.
Examining the supply chain is important given Finland's laws governing food safety and ethically sourced products, Ms Vartiala said.
She noted the report was not an academic paper but an investigation, for which she hired Mr Hall after reading his CV, and receiving recommendations from Human Rights Watch's Asia division deputy director Phil Robertson.
"We just wanted Mr Hall to interview the workers for us with guidelines of questions provided to him.
"When we received the information, we analysed it and sent questions for the companies to respond. When the companies did not respond we referred to it in the report," she said.
Finnish ambassador Kirsti Westphalen was at the court hearing yesterday.
The owner of the company, Wirat Piyapornphaiboon, also attended.
Natural Fruit filed four lawsuits against Mr Hall. On Sept 18, 2015, the Appeal Court ruled in favour of Mr Hall on the charge of defamation.
The other three pending cases against Mr Hall, including a criminal case, involve charges related to computer crime and defamation.
If found guilty, the human rights defender may face up to seven years in prison.