Labour rights activist and researcher Andy Hall will file a counter-suit against the government, police and Natural Fruit Co after the Supreme Court Thursday dismissed defamation charges against him, in relation to his 2013 Al Jazeera interview.
The prosecution was unlawful from the onset, while some witnesses committed perjury, Mr Hall argued, following the ruling by the Supreme Court judge in Phra Khanong district.
The verdict upheld rulings from the lower courts, which twice dismissed accusations against him.
In October 2014, the court of first instance rejected the lawsuit brought by the Phra Khanong prosecutor and the company, a large exporter of canned pineapple and juice based in Prachuab Khiri Khan.
The plaintiffs alleged Mr Hall defamed the company in an interview he gave earlier.
In this television segment, the activist was addressing a report he wrote for Finnwatch, a Finnish non-governmental organisation, which details alleged rights violations of the company's workers, which spurred the legal dispute.
Natural Fruit Co, which had previously responded to that report by filing criminal defamation and computer crimes charges against Mr Hall, lodged an additional suit regarding this interview alone.
According to Mr Hall, authorities in Phra Khanong which handled the case failed to perform their duty. There were factual errors and some witnesses gave false testimonies, he alleged.
The lower court dismissed the case, saying the investigation was flawed, as the prosecutor was not present during the process.
Seeking authorisation from the Office of the Attorney-General, the Phra Khanong prosecutor appealed against the case, which was once more rejected in 2015. This time, the dismissal was due to Thai courts' lack of jurisdiction over the case, as the interview was conducted in Myanmar -- a verdict confirmed by the Supreme Court.
Mr Hall appeared confident at the hearing Thursday, which was attended by representatives from a few European embassies. "One down, three to go," said the activist, who faced four criminal and civil courts lawsuits in relation to the dispute, as he welcomed the court's ruling.
On Sept 20, the Bangkok Criminal Court found him guilty of committing criminal defamation and computer crimes, related to the publication of the Finnwatch report.
The court ruled Mr Hall did not interview a large enough sample of workers for his report while state auditors, in separate research, had found no evidence of widespread abuses within Natural Fruit Co. Judges also found the researcher had not given sufficient time to company executives to respond to the accusations before submitting the report.
Additionally, the company sued him for 400 million baht compensation in civil court, including 100 million baht for the Al Jazeera interview. Mr Hall said he filed the counter-suit with regret, not in anger or retribution. "I have no choice but to consider counter-litigation to hold those responsible for my judicial harassment accountable," he said.
