Thailand: Bahraini footballer seeks conditional bail

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - The legal team of a Bahraini footballer incarcerated in Thailand announced on Thursday that the player would seek conditional bail.

Registered as a refugee in Australia since 2014, 25-year-old Hakeem al-Araibi has been under detention in Bangkok since November last year as his native Bahrain seeks his extradition.

Noting that Araibi planned to make a fresh bail request next week, lawyer Nadthasiri Bergman said they would apply for the option of an electronic monitoring device so as to "assure the court" that Araibi would not jump bail, local daily Bangkok Post reported on Friday.

Araibi had previously been denied bail by Bangkok’s criminal court in January with his trial expected to recommence in April, though prosecutors have said that he would remain in jail until August.

The Australian government has made two requests to Buddhist-majority Thailand to release Araibi, expressing serious concern about his state being shackled and barefoot when brought to court earlier this week.

Bahrain made an extradition request in December which Bangkok accepted under the understanding that the act would be reciprocated in the future, public prosecutors have told the court.

Thailand is not obliged to accept Bahrain’s request as the two countries do not share a formal extradition treaty.

According to the newspaper, local and international rights organizations have begun fundraising for Araibi’s surety bond, a requirement for bail.

"A very important person will be named a guarantor of the bail application for Araibi," his lawyer said without revealing a name, adding that rights groups would provide him with accommodation and daily expenses if he is released.

Araibi fled Bahrain in 2014 after a court sentenced him to 10 years in prison on multiple charges for vandalizing a police station

He has since lived in asylum in Australia, where he plays football for a local club in Melbourne.