MIGRANT rights activist Andy Hall has been ordered by the Johor Bahru High Court to pay RM500,000 in damages following two defamation suits filed by a director of a foreign worker recruitment company four years ago.
Judicial Commissioner Dr Noradura Hamzah ruled that Embun Karisma Resources director R. Muthusamy had successfully proven his claims against the UK citizen who did not appear in court to defend himself.
Represented by G.K. Sritharan and Chai Yi Ng, Muthusamy was the sole witness for the plaintiff in the trial of the two suits which were consolidated.
In delivering her oral grounds of judgment, Noradura said a higher amount of damages was awarded because the allegations of corruption and bribery against Muthusamy were serious. The court also ordered Hall to pay RM100,000 in costs.
Previously, Hall who had allegedly threatened a Bangladeshi journalist by using racist and insulting language had frequently made various negative allegations and criticisms against the Foreign Worker Central Management System (FWCMS) developed by Bestinet Sdn Bhd through his blog.
Editor’s Note: In March 2018, a Thai court ordered the migrant workers advocate to pay 10 million baht (US$321,000) in damages to a Thai fruit company in a long-running legal battle between both parties.
Natural Fruit Company Ltd sought legal action against Hall following a 2013 publication of an interview he gave to Al Jazeera about a report, “Cheap has a high price” which alleged human rights violations committed against migrant workers in the company’s pineapple processing factories.
In his blog, Hall linked Bestinet to allegations involving syndicates and monopolistic practices, questioned the transparency of the system and highlighted international scrutiny.
This was despite FWCMS having won a World Summit Award (WSA) in Vienna, Austria and recognised as one of the world’s 40 best digital projects in the Government and Citizen Engagement category.
‘Statement sensational, humiliating’
As part of the latest court judgment, Hall is also prohibited from publishing similar defamatory statements and was ordered to issue an apology to Muthusamy through major print media as well as on Facebook and Instagram.
In the first suit filed on April 12, 2022, Muthusamy alleged that Hall sent an e-mail on Jan 6 that year to at least 40 recipients, including companies, government departments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
According to Muthusamy, the e-mail accused him of attempting to bribe Hall by offering him consultancy work at ATA, a leading electronics manufacturing services company.
Muthusamy alleged that Hall also stated in the e-mail that he had attempted to obtain information about “how much would need to be paid to shut Andy Hall up”.
Following this, Muthusamy issued a letter of demand to Hall on Feb 14, 2022.
However, Muthusamy alleged that Hall subsequently made another defamatory statement in an article entitled “See you in court: Hall dares libel claimant in Dyson forced labour controversy” which appeared in Focus Malaysia on Feb 17 that year.
In both suits, Muthusamy maintained that the statements contained in Hall’s e-mail and the Focus Malaysia report were false and baseless.
He claimed that the words used were sensational, humiliating, offensive and malicious, portraying him as being involved in unlawful and criminal activities and consequently damaging his reputation both domestically and internationally. – Aug 14, 2026
