Court extends detention of Al Araibi
Refugee footballer to be held 12 more days
A refugee footballer from Bahrain has been detained for another 12 days, an immigration official said yesterday, as a rights group decried the “tug of war” over his fate.
Hakeem AlAraibi, a former player for Bahrain’s national side, was stopped on an Interpol Red Notice after arriving in Thailand from Australia on Nov 27 for a vacation with his wife.
The 25-year-old was granted refugee status in Australia in 2017 and has spoken out about being arrested and beaten at the start of Arab Spring protests in the Gulf state in 2012.
He was convicted in absentia on charges of vandalising a police station but said he was out of the country playing in a match at the time of the alleged offence.
Thai i mmigration chief Surachate Hakparn told reporters AlAraibi had been remanded for 12 days starting Dec 3 to give authorities time to examine documents submitted by Bahrain.
The Australian ambassador told him Canberra wants to get the footballer back, Pol Lt Gen Surachate said.
“If there is proof that the arrest warrant is invalid ... then immigration will repatriate him to Australia,” he added.
The Bahrain embassy in Bangkok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
AlAraibi said in an interview yesterday he believes Bahrain is “very angry” with him for interviews he gave in 2016 with mainstream media outlets about his treatment in custody.
“I’m not feeling well because I don’t know what’s going on,” he said, adding that he feared being killed if sent back to Bahrain.
The oil-rich Sunni-led country, home to the US Fifth Fleet, crushed Arab Spring protests by its Shia majority.
AlAraibi believes he was targeted because he is Shia and due to his brother’s political activism. He also opposed the Fifa presidential candidacy of Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, a member of Bahrain’s ruling monarchy and president of the Asian Football Confederation.
AlAraibi plays for semi-professional club Pascoe Vale FC in Melbourne and came to Thailand for a holiday before going back to train. The football club has been tweeting out a GoFundMe drive in a bid to help raise money for legal fees. Thailand does not recognise refugees and has faced international criticism for sending them back to countries where they could face persecution.
Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said the Interpol Red Notice should have been lifted because of AlAraibi’s status as a refugee.
Thailand has no reason to return him to Bahrain “where he will face torture and imprisonment for daring to speak truth to power”, Mr Adams said.
The Police Immigration Bureau has placed Thailand in a dicey situation. On Nov 27, officers at Suvarnabhumi airport detained Hakeem Ali Mohamed Ali AlAraibi. He is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice — hold for possible deportation. The problem is that AlAraibi is a legal refugee in Australia who is wanted in Bahrain, where he was persecuted and tortured for his political views about the monarchy of that country.
Placing AlAraibi in the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) has placed Thailand and the Immigration Bureau (IB) against the government of Australia and a quite active, international human rights network calling for his release and return to Australia.
IB commander Pol Lt Gen Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn says correctly the detention is not just legal but conforms in all ways to international norms. The Australian government and human rights defenders say correctly that if AlAraibi is returned to Bahrain, he will be abused, persecuted and even more likely placed in danger for his life.
There is a second part of this sad story which will place Thailand in an especially bad light if it sends AlAraibi back to Bahrain. The Bahraini is travelling on Australian documents, issued routinely to those awaiting final granting of citizenship. Before leaving for Thailand, AlAraibi says he visited the Thai consulate in Melbourne to specifically inquire about his safety in Thailand. He says he was assured by consulate staff there would be no problems despite the Interpol notice requesting his detention.
Australia has moved AlAraibi’s case to a priority status. Canberra has given AlAraibi permission to remain as a political refugee because of his credible claim that the Bahrain government wants to harm him again. He is a professional football player with a club in Victoria state.
Acting ambassador Paul Stephens met with Pol Lt Gen Surachate on Monday to demonstrate his country’s concern. According to Lt Gen Surachate, he was unyielding, explaining only that the IB was “strictly following the law”.
Despite the claims of Pol Lt Gen Surachate, the AlAraibi case is almost completely opaque. On the day of his detention at Suvarnabhumi, he was first told he was only being denied entry. With the help of the Australian embassy, he booked a flight back to Melbourne but then suddenly was handcuffed and removed to the IDC on Soi Suan Plu, Sathon Road. The usually voluble Pol Lt Gen Surachate refuses to state whether the Bahrain embassy intervened directly.
It would be devastating to Thailand’s international reputation if AlAraibi is forcibly deported or extradited to Bahrain without legal appeal. Thailand has no extradition treaty with Bahrain, and Thai law clearly allows appeals in court. If the Police Immigration Bureau were to take this law into its own hands, it would blacken the country’s image, and Pol Lt Gen Surachate would be held responsible.
Interpol notices are not legally binding, but simply indicate a request from one country to all others for help with alleged fugitives. Everyone knows the effect of Interpol notices in the attempts to detain ex-premiers Yingluck and Thaksin Shinawatra.
The Interpol Red Notice to request the detention of the accused hit-run Ferrari driver Vorayudh Yoovidhaya of the Red Bull family also was ignored.
The Bahrain court sentenced frequent government critic AlAraibi to a 10-year jail term, in absentia, on charges of vandalism at a police station. He says credibly he also was long persecuted, shackled and tortured because of his Shia faith in a Sunni-ruled country. In addition, his brother is politically active in Bahrain.
The circumstances of his alleged crime, along with the support of the Australian government and human rights campaigners, militate in AlAraibi’s favour. He deserves to be sent back to Australia. Otherwise, the IB must allow him his legal right to an extradition process in court.
Any other decision will make it seem Pol Lt Gen Surachate was the agent of an attempt to merely curry favour with an undemocratic Middle Eastern government.