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Hakeem al-Araibi arrives Monday at the criminal court in Bangkok. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)
Hakeem al-Araibi, a jailed Bahraini footballer who fled his country and has refugee status in Australia, arrived on Monday in Bangkok's criminal court, with his feet in chains, to respond to a request for extradition. from Bahrain.
Journalists, activists and officials, including Allan McKinnon, Australian ambbadador to Thailand, waited to greet Mr. Araibi, who was taken to the beige prison uniform court.
"Do not send me to Bahrain," said the footballer, who claims to be exposed to persecution and torture when he is fired.
Mr. Araibi, who had fled Bahrain in 2014 before obtaining permanent residency in Australia, where he was playing for Pascoe Vale, a second-rate football club in Melbourne, was arrested while he was in. honeymoon in Bangkok in November on the Interpol notification issued at the request of Bahrain.
Former Australian football captain Craig Foster, who campaigned around the world for Araibi's release, was also in court to show his support for the Bahraini refugee.
"Your wife sent her love, Australia is with you, buddy," cried Mr. Foster to Mr. Araibi, who greeted his supporters. "Stay strong, Hakeem."
Hakeem Al Araibi arrives in Thai criminal court in Bangkok, Toface extradition proceedings, tied up and in prison uniform #SaveHakeem @abcnews pic.twitter.com/kaAnYLFF2S
– Anne Barker (@AnneABarker) February 4, 2019
Last week, a Thai prosecutor submitted Bahrain's request for extradition to the court, claiming that it showed that Mr. Araibi had committed a criminal act and therefore had to be extradited.
Mr. Araibi was found guilty of vandalizing a police station in Bahrain and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia.
He denies having committed a wrongdoing, claiming that he was playing a football game televised at the time of the alleged vandalism.
"Hakeem will tell the court that he will not return to Bahrain," his lawyer, Nadthasiri Bergman, told Reuters before Monday's hearing, adding that the court would then set the date. the next hearing.
"We are not worried about the law because we have evidence showing that it should not be sent to Bahrain."
The judicial proceedings relating to Mr. Araibi's extradition "will take months," said Chatchom Akapin, an official at the Thai Attorney General's office.
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