Melbourne soccer player detained in Thailand 'faces torture in Bahrain' after deporta

Rights groups are urging Thai authorities not to deport a Bahraini professional soccer player, who now lives in Melbourne, to his homeland to face imprisonment for what his supporters say are political reasons.

The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy says Hakeem Ali Mohamed Ali AlAraibi was tortured after a 2012 arrest. In 2014 he fled to Australia, which granted him political asylum last year.


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 Bahrain's royal family's alleged involvement in sports scandals.


The London-based group says Mr AlAraibi was detained on Tuesday (local time) at Bangkok's airport on the basis of an Interpol notice issued at Bahrain's request. The notice says he is sought because he was sentenced in absentia in 2014 to 10 years in prison for allegedly vandalising a police station, a charge he denies.

MORE https://www.xxx.xxx.xx/news/2018-11-...ained/10570428

Thailand Extends Detention of Melbourne-based Bahraini Football Player

A former Bahrain football player will remain under detention in Bangkok for 12 more days, Thai officials said Tuesday, pending a decision from authorities about whether to send him to Bahrain where he was convicted of a crime, or to Australia where has a refugee status.


Hakeem AlAraibi, 25, was detained on Nov. 27 when he arrived for vacation at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport from Australia. Authorities said his arrest was based on an Interpol “Red Notice” issued at Bahrain’s request.


“Thailand’s foreign ministry is speeding up document examination, including the arrest warrant from Bahrain to determine whether it’s valid or not,” immigration police chief Surachate Hakpan told BenarNews.


“Then, officials will have to forward all the documents to the public prosecutors for their consideration before submitting to the court who may see the arrest warrant valid, thus allowing the police to hand him over to Bahrain,” he said.


AlAraibi’s 12-day remand at a Thai detention center started Monday after a court approved the immigration bureau’s request to give them enough time to decide on his case, Surachate said.


Surachate said he had discussed AlAraibi’s detention with Paul Stephens, Australia’s deputy head of mission, on Monday.
“I told the envoy that if the investigation finds the footballer cleared of all cases, he could be sent to his requested country,” Surachet said.


“He told me he wants to go to Australia,” Surachet said. “He doesn’t want to go to Bahrain.”


Bahrain has no extradition treaty with Thailand, but a legal expert told BenarNews that an extradition could be done on reciprocal basis or through a special agreement.


AlAraibi, who is a professional football player in Melbourne, remains openly critical of the government of Bahrain and the current Bahraini president of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman Al-Khalifa, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).


HRW, in a statement, underscored Thailand’s legal responsibility to respect the international law principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits countries from returning refugees to a country where they may face torture or other serious human rights violations.


AlAraibi fled Bahrain two years after he was allegedly tortured by authorities while under detention in 2012. He was granted asylum in Australia last year, rights groups said.


Bahrain, through its embassy in Thailand, said in a Twitter post that AlAraibi “is wanted for security cases.” It did not elaborate.


Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), urged the United Nations and Australia to fight for AlAraibi’s return to Melbourne “to prevent a disastrous outcome."


“If Hakeem is extradited to Bahrain, he is at great risk of facing torture and unlawful imprisonment,” he said in a statement. “His extradition would constitute to refoulement and therefore would be a clear breach of international law.”


Rights groups said AlAraibi was sentenced in absentia in 2014 to 10 years in prison after he was convicted of vandalizing a police station in Bahrain. But AlAraibi denied the charge and claimed he was playing a football match that was televised live when the alleged crime occurred.


In an interview with Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service last week, AlAraibi said he feared for his life if he were to be returned to Bahrain.


“It's very dangerous there [for me],” he said. “In Bahrain, they want to kill me.”


Amnesty International Australia on Tuesday called on Thai authorities to end AlAraibi’s detention.


“Thai immigration must release him now and allow him to come home to Australia,” Diana Sayed, campaigner for Amnesty International Australia, told Australian reporters. “Hakeem will not be safe until he is back on Australian soil.”


Amnesty, in a statement, said AlAraibi’s sentencing in Bahrain was a result of an “unfair trial.”


“A former player of Bahrain’s national soccer team, he has spoken out about a senior Bahraini official’s practice of torturing footballers who participate in demonstrations,” it said. “He was himself arrested in November 2012 and tortured.”



https://www.benarnews.org/english/ne...018154713.html

Hmmm. Respect a country that wants a man for what is realistically lesse majeste but is officially vandalism, or the country that granted him refugee status.
I don't hold out much hope for the poor bugger unless Australian government gets involved.

Apparently the Interpol notice concerning this man has been cancelled but Thailand is still detaining him

I'd have thought he'd be a bit cautious about leaving the country where he has refugee status. Perhaps this will be a lesson for him. Or perhaps not.

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Originally Posted by Neverna

I'd have thought he'd be a bit cautious about leaving the country where he has refugee status. Perhaps this will be a lesson for him. Or perhaps not.

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Well back in the day a Thailand/Bahrain football match in Bangkok was stopped by a fire in the stadium. They scheduled a replay for a few days later and all the Bahraini players defied the Shaikh in charge and fucked off to Patts for a few days.

They all got sacked, but eventually were allowed to go grovelling back to him to get their bans lifted.

So if this lad was one of them, chances are he was on a shagging trip, silly boy.

How come the Aussie feds didn't have this notice though?

It actually says he was on holiday with his wife.

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Thailand's Immigration Bureau chief Surachate Hakparn on Tuesday confirmed to EFE the lifting of the red notice and the 12 further days of detention.


“When the period runs out and an arrest warrant from Bahrain [hasn't shown] up, we will send him back to Australia,” Surachate said.

However, he added that if an arrest warrant is issued by Bahrain during the 12 days, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would “oversee the process” and Araibi would probably be sent back to Bahrain.

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https://www.efe.com/efe/english/port...000260-3832836

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Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

How come the Aussie feds didn't have this notice though?

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If he was granted refugee status, there must have been compelling reasons. Those same reasons are cause enough for the Oz feds to not comply with the Red notice. Civilised countries such as Oz have to be confident that any charges resulting in an interpol notice are not trumped up or political before they extradite the accused.
My guess.

BANGKOK: A Thai court is considering a request by Bahrain to extradite an ex-national team footballer, the kingdom's immigration chief said Friday (Dec 7), as FIFA threw its support behind a return to Australia where he has refugee status.


Hakeem Al-Araibi was stopped by Thai immigration on Nov 27 after arriving in Bangkok from Australia for a vacation with his wife.

He has since been held in detention.

The 25-year-old, who now plays for semi-professional club Pascoe Vale FC in Melbourne, says he was arrested and beaten at the start of the Arab Spring protests in the Gulf state in 2012 and was granted refugee status in Australia five years later.

He was convicted in absentia on charges of vandalising a police station in Bahrain.

But Al-Araibi says he was out of the country playing in a match at the time of the alleged offence.


Thailand's immigration chief Surachate Hakparn told reporters the attorney-general's office submitted an extradition case to the criminal court on Bahrain's behalf as the Gulf state has an outstanding arrest warrant for him.

The court "will take time" to consider the case which was sparked when Al-Araibi was stopped in Bangkok on "Bahrain's request".

"We have cordial, good relations with Bahrain," he said, adding authorities were "trying to speed up the case" due to the 12-day deadline of the remand period, which began on Dec 3.

The immigration chief said the footballer can appeal a negative verdict.

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...aller-11010920

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...aller-11010920

good news

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A Thai court has ruled that an extradition case against Melbourne-based refugee Hakeem al-Araibi be dropped, with the footballer expected to return to Australia tonight.

The director-general of international affairs for the Thai Government confirmed to the ABC that the Attorney-General requested the extradition case to Bahrain be dropped.

Mr al-Araibi was detained in Bangkok more than two months ago for alleged vandalism offences in his native Bahrain.

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https://www.xxx.xxx.xx/news/2019-02-...opped/10801346

^ Yup.

Thailand to free refugee Bahraini footballer Hakeem al Araibi

Thai court orders release after Bahrain drops extradition request, says prosecutor working on the case.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/...083252299.html

I wondered when they were going to realise that the bad press wasn't worth it.

hope he's put on the RIGHT PLANE.

well he is back in aus saying "I lub youse all"

but some things need to be investigated back to the beginning and the decision makers

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Australian Federal Police notified Thailand that al-Araibi was on his way and subject to an Interpol red notice, without mentioning he was a refugee with Australian protection.

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wonder if the person who decided on this was a supporter of another soccer team

but still many questions will need to be asked - and not a wong wun :) - titter

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Senator Wong intends to pursue the issue during budget estimates hearings in Canberra next week.

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https://www.sbs.com.au/news/bahrain-...aibi-documents