Thai court okays extradition of Bahraini footballer

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – A footballer living on UN refugee documents may be extradited from Thailand to Bahrain, his native country.

Local media in Bangkok reported on Friday that a Thai court accepted a request from Thai prosecutors to extradite the footballer, Hakim al-Araibi, 25, who was detained by Thai police last November, acting on an Interpol notice, when he arrived for a honeymoon with his wife.

“The prosecution move follows an extradition request that Bahrain sent to the [Thai] attorney-general on Jan 18,” local daily Bangkok Post reported. “The court accepted the request for consideration.”

Araibi’s lawyer Nadthasiri Bergman said she will fight the extradition request with “strong arguments.”.

In 2014, a court in Bahrain sentenced Araibi to 10 years in jail on multiple charges for vandalizing a police station. He fled the country ahead of the court verdict. Since then, Araibi has lived in asylum in Australia, where he plays football for a local club in Melbourne.

Araibi denies any wrongdoing, calling the charges “political” and saying he was playing in a televised football match at the time of the alleged offenses and he fears for his life.

Thailand and Bahrain do have a mutual extradition treaty, but Thai prosecutors sought approval of the extradition, arguing Bahrain “promised reciprocal treatment of Thais in future,” the newspaper said.

The Buddhist-majority country’s move has triggered protests in Australia opposed to the extradition.

Araibi “is a young man who has been tortured by a country you are working with and are contemplating sending him back,” former Australian footballer Craig Foster told protestors in Sydney.

Demonstrators called on FIFA, football's global governing body, to suspend Bahrain from future competitions.