The Appeal Court yesterday upheld a lower court's dismissal last year of defamation charges against migrant-rights activist Andy Hall over a press interview he conducted in Myanmar, saying neither state prosecutors nor a pineapple-processing company had grounds to sue in Thailand.
The court unanimously ruled that neither the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) nor Natural Fruit had a legal right to prosecute Mr Hall as the alleged defamatory remarks were made during an Al-Jazeera network interview outside the kingdom.
The court also said police should not have investigated the case and declared it non-appealable to the Supreme Court.
The Appeal Court ruling was read out at the Phra Khanong Court, where the original dismissal of the defamation case took place on Oct 29 last year.
Hall: To file lawsuits of his own
That ruling also cited a flawed police investigation that did not include a Thai state prosecutor from the outset.
"We are relieved and glad about today's court decision and that the legality of the previous dismissal has been upheld. The case is now closed," said Sonja Vartiala, executive director of rights watchdog Finnwatch, for whom Mr Hall authored a report.
The case was just one of four brought by Natural Fruit against Mr Hall. Hearings in the other cases continue on Oct 19 when the activist will be indicted formally for criminal defamation and violation of the Computer Crime Act related to the publication of the Finnwatch report that exposed labour-rights violations at a Natural Fruit pineapple-processing plant.
If found guilty, Mr Hall faces up to seven years in prison.
In addition to the two criminal cases, National Fruit also filed two damages claims against the activist.
Following yesterday's dismissal, Mr Hall said on Twitter he would file lawsuits of his own against Natural Fruit and government prosecutors.
He said he plans to bring perjury charges against Natural Fruit management "for false statements made in court" and an allegedly false police report filed with Bang Na police.
He also intends to file a lawsuit against the OAG for wrongful prosecution.
Ms Vartiala said Finnwatch and hundreds of other civil-society organisations have appealed for all criminal proceedings against Mr Hall to be dropped.