Thai authorities decide on Bahrain detainee’s future next week
The Thai Attorney General is set to decide by next week whether to extradite a detained Bahraini footballer or allow him to travel to Australia as a refugee.
Prosecutors have now received an official request from the Bahraini government to extradite the footballer, Hakeem Ali Mohamed Ali al-Araibi, and the request is being reviewed to see if it falls within the 2008 Extradition Act.
If the OAG does decide to have al-Araibi extradited, then the case must be completed by next week or within 60 days after his detention, he said. Al-Araibi was detained on December 11.
“However, even after the OAG proceeds with the extradition, the PM still has the power to cancel the order and allow the footballer to travel to Australia, where he has already gained refugee status.”
The footballer was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport as soon as he arrived on a vacation with his wife.
He had been convicted, in absentia, of vandalising a police station in Bahrain and is being sought by his country’s government to serve a 10 year prison sentence.
In an official statement, Human Rights Watch say the footballer is being unjustly charged as he was playing a televised match during the time of the alleged crime.
Thailand and Bahrain do not have a bilateral extradition treaty, but provide each other assistance on grounds of reciprocity.
SOURCE: The Nation
