INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightAFPA football player and refugee whose detention in Thailand sparked an outcry has been freed from jail after Bahrain
withdrew its extradition request.Hakeem Al-Araibi, who is a Bahraini citizen, fled to Australia in 2014 and was granted political asylum
He was detained in Bangkok in November on an Interpol notice requested by Bahrain
He had travelled to the Thai capital on honeymoon.He was sentenced in absentia to 10 years for vandalising a police station.Al-Araibi, 25,
denies the charges and human rights activists say he could face torture if sent back to Bahrain
He has been a vocal critic of Bahraini authorities
His case has been taken up by high-profile footballers, with stars including Didier Drogba and Jamie Vardy calling for his release
The Australian government, Fifa and the International Olympic Committee all lobbied ThailandThailand's Office of the Attorney General
(OAG) asked the court to end proceedings against Al-Araibi because Bahrain had said it no longer wanted him, officials told
TheIndianSubcontinent Thai on Monday."This morning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed us that Bahrain was no longer interested in this
request," OAG foreign office chief Chatchom Akapin said.Al-Araibi is expected to leave Thailand on Monday evening for Australia.Thailand's
foreign minister was in Bahrain over the weekend for an official visit and met with senior leaders.Craig Foster, a former Australian
national football captain and TV host who spearheaded the campaign to free Hakeem, said there were "tears" in his household "right
now".Al-Araibi plays for Pascoe Vale FC in Melbourne.Last month, his wife told the TheIndianSubcontinent that extradition would put him in
danger."I'm calling on every country to help Hakeem because I know if he gets taken back he will be tortured, and he will be killed," she
said.But Bahrain said al-Araibi had been sentenced by an independent judiciary "on charges involving serious violence and criminality,
unrelated to any possible freedom of opinion/expression issues".It said his safety would be "guaranteed" if he returned to Bahrain to appeal
Image copyrightEPAImage caption
Hakeem's arrest caused an outcry in Australia
Human rights activists
in Bahrain lauded Monday's news."This is a huge victory for the human rights movement in Bahrain, Thailand and Australia, and even the
whole world," said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei of the London-based campaign group the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy
"Hakeem's ordeal ended after 70 days when there was a clear public stance and solidarity movement
The football community, the human rights movement and all of those who dedicated their time and efforts to end this injustice were
