Hitachi Supplier sues Malaysian Labour Rights Activist

by geertjan — last modified 2013-04-24 09:51

A major supplier to the electronics multinational Hitachi is suing Malaysian labour rights activist and lawyer Charles Hector following weblog publication of violations of workers' rights.

Mr. Hector, a lawyer, activist and blogger is a key defender of migrant workers rights in the electronics and garment manufacturering industry, and posts regularly about working conditions at his blog http://charleshector.blogspot.com/.

When he disclosed that 31 Burmese migrant workers, employed at the Japanese-owned factory Asahi Kosei, were threatened with retaliation and deportation after having complained about disproportional wage deductions and lack of sick leave, he was sued by the company for libel. The court has put an injunction order in place preventing Charles Hector from disclosing any information on the situation of the 31 Burmese migrant workers and working conditions at Asahi Kosei, and he further risks an outrageous penalty of approximately 2.3 million euros.

Please take action today and demand Hitachi to take immediate action to drop the case.

Sign the protest letter to Hitachi at the GoodElectronics website: http://goodelectronics.org/urgent-appeals/letters/hitachi

For more information see: http://goodelectronics.org/urgent-appeals/hitachi and http://indefenceofcharleshector.blogspot.com/