Thailand frees footballer after Bahrain drops extradition case

A FOOTBALLER jailed in Thailand will be allowed to enter Australia as a refugee after Thai authorities abandoned an attempt to extradite him to Bahrain for a crime he says he did not commit.

After an international outcry, Thai prosecutors dropped an extradition case yesterday against Hakeem alaraibi, 25, who was detained after arriving in Bangkok for his honeymoon. He spent more than two months in jail.

Thai authorities were criticised for pursuing the extradition but approved Mr Araibi’s release after Bahrain withdrew its request, according to Reuters.

Craig Foster, a former Australian national football team captain who lobbied for Mr Araibi’s release, said on Twitter the “most important thing now is Hakeem’s immediate well-being. Many wonderful people stepped forward to help Hakeem. They all deserve to be in front of camera now, not only me… My thoughts are with Hakeem’s wife. Her nightmare will shortly be at an end.”

Mr Araibi, a former Bahraini national team player, was granted refugee status in Australia after fleeing Bahrain in 2014, saying he was targeted because he is Shia and his brother is politically active. He plays for a semi-professional football team in Melbourne.

Bahrain sought his extradition for a 10-year jail sentence after a court convicted him in absentia of an alleged “terrorist operation”, involving an arson attack on a police station in 2012.

Mr Araibi insists he is innocent, saying he was playing football in a Bahraini league game broadcast on television until 30 minutes before the alleged arson attack.