Thailand says Australia to blame for arrest of refugee Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi

Thailand on Wednesday defended its arrest of a Bahraini footballer with refugee status in Australia, saying officials only detained him because Australian authorities sent an Interpol “red notice” after he boarded a plane to Bangkok. Hakeem al-Araibi’s case has drawn international criticism as a Thai court considers an extradition request from Bahrain for him to serve a 10-year sentence related to the Arab spring uprising of 2011. He denies the charges. Araibi, 25, was arrested at an airport in Bangkok in November when he arrived from Australia with his wife for their honeymoon. The footballer says he faces torture in Bahrain and wants to return to Australia, where he has lived since 2014 and plays for a Melbourne football club. Thailand’s foreign ministry on Wednesday described the case as “involving two countries competing for Mr Hakeem’s custody”. It said Thailand became involved “by chance”, after a police bureau that handles Interpol matters in Australia notified Thai authorities that al-Araibi had boarded a flight to Bangkok and was the subject of a “red notice” initiated by Bahrain. “It took several days after the arrival of Mr Hakeem before the Australian authorities informed us that the red notice had been cancelled,” the statement said. “By that time, legal proceedings in Thailand regarding Mr Hakeem had already started and could not be reversed.” Another 60 days in Thai jail for Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi Al-Araibi could stay in jail until August, as the court hearing his case will take two to three months to deliver its ruling after the next hearing, set for late April, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office said. “So between now and then, Hakeem will have to be in custody for at least until August,” Trumph Jalichandra said, adding that he could only be released sooner if Bahrain withdrew its request. Australia’s Home Affairs office confirmed in December that federal police had advised Thai authorities a person with a red notice was on the way to Thailand, but did not say if the bureau was aware al-Araibi had refugee status. Bahrain’s embassy in Bangkok said al-Araibi was a fugitive who should be returned. “Mr al-Araibi, as with defendants in all criminal cases in Bahrain, is guaranteed full legal rights and protections with full access to proper representation,” it said in a statement on Wednesday. The Thai attorney-general’s office told reporters on Wednesday that with extradition requests, bail would be opposed. Thailand under pressure to release Bahraini footballer “If you look at the number of foreign defendants, they pay their bail and jump bail and then don’t show up in court,” Chatchom Akapin, the office’s director general for international affairs, said, adding that the policy applied “not only to Hakeem”. A deputy spokesman for the office said the case was not political. Rights groups and the Australian government have repeatedly called for Araibi’s return and the case has become a cause celebre in the football world, with Fifa also urging the Thai premier to intervene. Football Federation Australia (FFA) cancelled the under-23 men’s national team plans to hold a training camp and a friendly game in Thailand ahead of the AFC U23 Championship qualifiers next month. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Melbourne Wednesday he had now written two letters to his Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-O-Cha and had stressed “just how strongly Australians feel about this”. Australian officials have also been pressing the Bahraini government, Morrison said. ‘Please don’t send me to Bahrain’: footballer pleads for freedom as Thai court extends detention Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne urged Thai authorities to use their discretion. “Given ... that he is a permanent resident of our country, on the pathway to citizenship, we have encouraged the Bahraini government not to proceed with the extradition application, and we have encouraged the Thai government to exercise the discretion that they have available to them,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from Samoa. Thailand’s foreign ministry said this week it “does not gain anything” from holding Araibi but it had legal obligations and commitments to the international community. It urged Australia and Bahrain to find a “mutually agreeable solution”. But Amnesty International said Thai authorities were culpable for Araibi’s detention and were attempting to “pass the buck” by urging Australia and Bahrain to find a diplomatic compromise. Al-Araibi was convicted of vandalising a police station during 2011 anti-government protests in Bahrain and sentenced in absentia after he fled. He denies the charges, saying he was playing in a televised football match at the time of the police station attack. The Gulf state issued a statement this week defending its decision to pursue Araibi after he fled while awaiting trial. It said he had been granted bail to travel for a football tournament and had violated the terms while taking “special consideration granted to him as a sportsman”. US-based Human Rights Watch has said al-Araibi was tortured by Bahraini authorities because of his brother’s political activities during the 2011 protests. Bahraini authorities deny allegations of torture.