Lawyers representing Andy Hall, a British researcher and activist specialising in migrant worker rights, will today at 9:00am file criminal litigation against nine Thai state prosecution officials and one senior police officer... Hall’s lawyers will then proceed to file criminal litigation...against Natural Fruit Company Ltd.... This litigation concerns a criminal defamation charge relating to an interview Hall gave to Aljazeera English in Myanmar and filed against him by Natural Fruit... in Bangkok in July 2013...I was encouraged to initiate these litigations by migrant workers whom I continue to support in Thailand. After my criminal conviction, many workers and rights defenders in Thailand and even globally told me they hesitate to... report fully on abuses due to fear of negative repercussions.It's imperative that these two sets of criminal prosecutions claim space back for victims of rights abuses, of rights abuses, exploited workers and human rights defenders to speak out with confidence about unlawful conduct by business and state actors...” [Hall said]. Today’s launch of criminal litigation by Hall coincides with the Thai Prime Minister’s launch of Thailand’s National Action Plan (NAP) on Business and Human Rights. NAPs are UN recommended tools for...States to promote the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights...