Bangkok (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged Thailand to stop the extradition to Bahrain of a detained soccer player who has refugee status in Australia, his office said Tuesday.
In a letter to Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, Morrison emphasized that Hakeem al-Araibi’s case was an important matter to him personally, as well as to the Australian government and Australian people, his office said. The letter was reported earlier by The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
Al-Araibi, 25, a former Bahraini national team player, says he fled his home country due to political repression. Bahrain wants him returned to serve a 10-year prison sentence he received in absentia in 2014 for vandalizing a police station, which he denies.
Human rights groups, soccer governing bodies and activists have pushed for Thailand to release al-Araibi, who plays for the semi-professional soccer club Pascoe Vale FC in Melbourne. They believe he risks being tortured if he is sent back to Bahrain.
Morrison noted that al-Araibi has a permanent protection visa issued by Australia, that the government only issues such visas after a careful process, and that Australia considers him a refugee.
Thai foreign ministry spokeswoman Busadee Santipitaks said Tuesday that the official extradition request was received from Bahrain and forwarded to Thai prosecutors.
Thailand’s attorney general’s office received the extradition request Monday and is expected to decide within a week whether to proceed with the extradition case, said Chatchom Akapin, director general of the international affairs department.
Chatchom said Thailand would not extradite al-Araibi “if the sought after extradition is political.”
“If it is, then the request must be denied,” he said.
Prime Minister Prayuth said the situation was complicated.
“Thai officials have to follow the law in every aspect. However, Thailand has good relations with Bahrain and FIFA,” he said, referring to soccer’s world governing body. “How can we find a solution? I understand everyone’s concerns.”
Human Rights Watch’s Asia director, Brad Adams, said Thailand would make a “huge mistake” if it extradites al-Araibi because “global opinion and international law are clearly opposed to this rights-violating move.”
The Asian Football Confederation on Tuesday followed FIFA and the International Olympic Committee in asking for al-Araibi’s release.
The AFC, led by Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, a member of Bahrain’s royal family, had faced criticism for not calling for al-Araibi’s freedom.
 |
 |
