“British activist braced for Thai defamation trial amid cover-up claims”, 1 September 2014

A British labour rights activist will face a Thai court…on defamation charges that could carry an eight-year prison sentence, in a case that human rights groups say is a cover-up of "systematic violations" of labour laws in the Thai export industry…Hall has described the charges against him as "judicial harassment", adding: "Migrant exploitation by employers, officials and brokers is widespread and systematic…This abuse extends to many export markets beyond fishing, seafood and pineapples to poultry, fruit and veg, rubber and – even more now – retail, food and beverage, and tourism."…By agreeing to prosecute, "the Thai government is complicit in an effort to cover up abuses of migrant workers and shut down external investigations of supply chains of Thai exporters", Human Rights Watch's deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson, told the Guardian…