Syrian dad petitions for son’s bail

The father of a Syrian national, who was allegedly victimised by an extortion gang and detained for overstaying in Thailand, has petitioned the Justice Ministry to help secure his son’s bail.

Alhalabi Mohammad Va-el, 23, has been in immigration custody after a group of foreigners volunteering at Lumpini police station as interpreters nabbed him in June.

His father, Alhalabi Mohammad Yasser, 47, revealed the gang demanded he pay them 500,000 baht if he did not want his son to be arrested by immigration officials. But even after paying them the sum, he said his son was still arrested and detained at Suan Plu detention centre, pending deportation.

Mr Yasser, accompanied by his interpreter, Panchapat Lert-teerareungkul, yesterday turned up at the Justice Ministry’s complaint centre.

He said he wanted the ministry’s Rights and Liberties Protection Department to contact the immigration authorities to consider granting his son’s bail. Mr Yasser said his son cannot be deported to Syria, which is at war, and sending him to another country is impossible.

He said his son should be granted bail, pending deportation. In the past, some foreigners caught overstaying in Thailand had been granted bail by the commander of the Immigration Bureau, he noted.

Three Middle Eastern men were charged with extorting money from Mr Yasser last month. They were identified as Kasal Wakiao, 27, from Syria; Islam Ahmed Ghonemi Seoudi, 32, from Egypt; and Daou Bassem, from Lebanon.

On being questioned, the suspects said the conflict stemmed from a personal matter between Mr Seoudi and Mr Va-el, who were infatuated with the same woman, according to police.

In a fit of jealousy, Mr Seoudi lodged a false complaint with Lumpini police, accusing Mr Va-el of being involved in narcotics.

Mr Va-el was arrested by police, but it was later found he was not involved with illegal drugs. However, he was instead detained for overstaying in the country.

According to Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Sanit Mahathavorn, the suspects earlier worked as Arabic translators for the station.

The MPB chief insisted no Lumpini police were involved in the racket and the suspects had never claimed they were police.

Mr Yasser claimed he and his son were recognised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as refugees.