Thailand releases refugee soccer player
▶ Bangkok drops extradition proceedings at Bahrain’s request
Thailand on Monday freed a jailed refugee Bahraini soccer player with residency status in Australia, after Bahrain abandoned its bid to seek his extradition, and immigration officials said he was immediately driven to the airport.
Hakeem Al Araibi, 25, who fled Bahrain in 2014 and received refugee status in Australia, was arrested in November last year at a Bangkok airport while on a honeymoon trip, following an Interpol notice issued at Bahrain’s request.
However, the Middle East nation has withdrawn the request, prompting a Thai court to approve a motion by prosecutors to drop the case against the player, Thai officials said.
“There are no grounds to hold him anymore. It is his right to decide where he will go next. He is a free man,” said Chatchom Akapin, an official in the Thai Attorney-General’s office.
A Reuters witness said Araibi was seen leaving the Bangkok remand prison in a car and immigration officials said he was heading for the main international airport in the Thai capital.
Rights group Amnesty International, which lobbied for his release, later said Araibi had arrived at the airport.
It was not immediately clear when or why Bahrain withdrew its request. A Bahrain government spokesperson declined to give details when asked who ordered the halt of the legal proceedings.
However, authorities in Bahrain, which has accused Araibi of crimes committed during the Arab Spring protests of 2011, said the country reaffirmed its right to pursue legal action against him.
In a statement, Bahrain’s foreign ministry said it had noted the halt of legal proceedings and the verdict against the soccer player remained in place.
The detention of Araibi, who appeared with his feet in shackles at a court hearing last week, drew international criticism, with Australian authorities and fellow soccer players urging Thailand to release him. He says he faces torture if returned to Bahrain.
Araibi has said he wants to return to Australia, where he has lived since 2014 and plays for a Melbourne soccer club.
He was convicted of vandalizing a police station during 2011 anti-government protests in Bahrain and sentenced in absentia after he fled. Araibi denies the charges, saying he was playing in a televised soccer match at the time of the police station attack.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has said Araibi was tortured by Bahraini authorities because of his brother’s political activities during the 2011 protests.