Calls for release of refugee footballer arrested in Thailand
A Thai court has ruled a football player who holds refugee status in Australia can be held for 60 days pending the completion of an extradition request by Bahrain – the homeland he fled four years ago over alleged political persecution and torture.
Hakeem al-araibi, 25, who was detained on 27 November on entry to Bangkok’s main airport, was denied bail during his court appearance.
Thai officials said he was originally held on the basis of a notice from Interpol in which Bahrain sought his custody because he had been sentenced in absentia in 2014 to ten years in prison for vandalising a police station. Mr Araibi has denied the charge.
He said he went to Thailand on holiday with his wife.
Mr Araibi said he feared being tortured if sent to Bahrain. Australia, which granted him refugee status and residency last year, has called for his release and immediate return to his adoptive home. He had played for Bahrain’s national soccer team and now plays for Melbourne’s Pascoe Vale Football Club.
He has been publicly critical of the Bahrain royal family’s alleged involvement in sports scandals.
Mr Araibi has also alleged he was blindfolded and had his legs beaten while he was held in Bahrain in 2012.
He said he believed he was targeted for arrest because of his Shiite faith, and because his brother was politically active in Bahrain.
The country has a Shiite majority, but is ruled by a Sunni monarchy and has a reputation for harsh repression since its failed Arab Spring uprising in 2011.
Thai officials insisted they are following the letter of the law in holding him. However, human rights groups suggest he should not have been detained because of his refugee status, and that international law to which Thailand is a party bars sending him to Bahrain if he has a legitimate fear of persecution and torture.
The court can extend the 60-day detention by another 30 days on application of the prosecutor’s office, but otherwise he is free to go if Bahrain does not finish its extradition application by then.
Police brought Mr Araibi into court in handcuffs.
He complained Thai immigration officials were working along with Bahrain and pleaded “please stop them, please stop them”. He said: “I don’t want to talk to Bahrain. I didn’t do anything.”
Mr Araibi’s lawyer Nadthasiri Bergman said her client was “very sad”.
In addition to Australia, Mr Araibi has attracted support from world soccer’s governing body Fifa, which urged that he be returned to Australia “at the earliest possible moment”.