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A Thai court has approved the request for abandonment of extradition proceedings, according to Chatchom Akapin, director general of foreign affairs of the Attorney General's office. Chatchom said that Al-Araibi should now be released as soon as possible.
The news will delight Al-Araibi and his supporters, who have launched a worldwide campaign calling for his release. Al-Araibi has refugee status in Australia.
Al-Araibi was arrested and detained last November while he was on honeymoon in Thailand at the request of the Bahraini government.
The player fled Bahrain in 2014 and now plays in the semi-professional club based in Melbourne, Pascoe Vale.
Al-Araibi said he feared being tortured and killed when he was handed over to Bahrain by the Thai authorities.
"I'm afraid to go home," he told CNN on Feb. 4 during an interview in the jail. "Please, fight for me."
The Attorney General of Thailand previously stated that his case was in accordance with Thai law and that it would be up to the courts to decide whether he should be extradited.
"Defender of Human Rights"
Activists campaigning for the release of Al-Araibi said the footballer should never have been arrested. an international arrest warrant has been issued against Al-Araibi, although these red notices are not intended for refugees.
Former Australian national team player Francis Awaritefe, vice president of the World Football Union FIFPro, said last week: "Hakeem is a refugee and a human rights defender. international law, the subject of the present proceedings. "
The world governing body of football, FIFA, has been involved in the case of Al-Araibi. Secretary General Fatma Samoura wrote to Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to campaign for her release.
In 2012, he was arrested and detained in Bahrain for three months, accused of vandalizing a police station during a protest. He told CNN that he had been released because he had submitted evidence showing that he was playing live football on television when the protest took place.
In 2014, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia for vandalism. He fled to Australia where he was granted refugee status in 2017.
Nick Friend from CNN contributed.
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