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Tuesday morning, local time, the 25-year-old arrived at Melbourne Airport, where he thanked the Australian government, its supporters and the activists who had worked for his release.
"It's amazing to see all the people here, all the Australians and all the media who have supported me," he said. "It's my country.I have not yet obtained citizenship, but my country is Australia.I am going to die in Australia and I love Australia."
Al-Araibi The former captain of the Australian National Football Team, Craig Foster, met at the airport. He had led an international campaign for his release.
"It's a victory for humanity, for the power of the world's citizens who demand that human rights be protected," Foster said in a statement.
"We know that all Australians will deeply appreciate this decision, which will allow him to find his wife, family and friends," he said in a statement.
Al-Araibi, a Bahraini national, was arrested on November 27 at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, after arriving in the Southeast Asian country for a vacation with his wife.
An international arrest warrant had been issued against him, even though Red Notice applications were not to be applied to refugees.
Detained despite absolute alibi
In 2012, Al-Araibi 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.
Two years later, Al-Araibi was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for vandalism. The footballer, who has openly criticized the Bahraini government and its human rights record, has fled to Australia, where he was granted refugee status in 2017. He is now playing for the club. semi-professional 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 a Thai jail. "Please, fight for me."
Human Rights Watch, which had been campaigning for Al-Araibi, said the Bahraini government was saying that there would be no threat to his life should he be sent back to his home country. Origin "would have been laughable if it had not been so tragic".
The Bahraini Foreign Ministry said in a statement released Tuesday by local media that Al-Araibi's verdict of guilt would remain unchanged despite the decision to abandon his extradition case.
"The Kingdom of Bahrain reaffirms its right to take all necessary legal action against Mr. Al-Araibi," reads the statement.
CNN's Helen Regan contributed to this report.
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