Thailand to free Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi

The Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi is set to return to Australia after Thai authorities withdrew an extradition case against him.

Hakeem Al Araibi, 25, who fled Bahrain in 2014 and received refugee status in Australia, was arrested in November at a Bangkok airport while on a honeymoon trip following an Interpol notice issued at Bahrain’s request.

However, the Middle East nation has withdrawn the request, leading a Thai court to approve a motion by prosecutors to drop the case against the footballer, said Chatchom Akapin, an official in the Thai Attorney-General’s office.

The surprise decision on Monday ends more than 70 days of detention and international outcry over Bahrain’s attempts to return the dissident refugee.

“The court will now issue an order to release Hakeem from jail today,” said Chatchom, the director-general of the office’s international affairs department.

“There are no grounds to hold him anymore. It is his right to decide where he will go next. He is a free man.”

Al-Araibi was jailed and beaten in Bahrain during a crackdown on pro-democracy athletes. He fled the country in 2014 before being granted permanent residence in Australia, where he has lived since. He was later sentenced in absentia to 10 years in jail over an act of vandalism he maintains he could not have committed because he was playing in a televised football match.

The detention of Araibi, who appeared at a court hearing in shackles last week, drew international criticism, with Australian authorities and fellow footballers urging Thailand to release him. He says he faces torture if returned to Bahrain.

“My thanks go to the wonderful people of Thailand for your support and to the Thai government for upholding international law,” former Australia soccer captain Craig Foster, who helped lobby officials at the world governing body FIFA to intervene on Arabi's behalf, said on social network Twitter.