The wife of Bahraini player Oreibi calls the Thai Prime Minister to release him

BANGKOK (Reuters) – The wife of Bahraini footballer Hakim al-Uribi on Wednesday urged not to expel him to his country, saying he was in danger of being tortured in the city. Urged to return to Australia, which had granted him asylum.

"He will come back to face imprisonment, torture and possibly death.Please, help my husband, I do not want to lose him", said his wife Wednesday in a letter open to Prime Minister Braiath Chan-Ocha.

"I am terrified by the fact that the final decision to deport him will take place in the coming days," says the letter obtained by Reuters.

Attorney Nathadasiri Burjman said the woman had asked not to be named for fear of her safety.

The authorities arrested Oreibi in Bangkok in November under a notification from Interpol at the request of Bahrain. He fled Bahrain in 2014 and was granted asylum in Australia thereafter.

Oreibi was found guilty of destroying a police station in 2014 and sentenced in absentia to 10 years of imprisonment. But Oreibi denies any wrongdoing and claims that he was playing a televised match at the same time as the police station.

Human rights organizations say Oreibi was tortured by the Bahraini authorities for his brother's political activities during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. The Bahraini authorities deny that he was tortured .

* Hell honeymoon

The wife of Oreibi said in her speech that she had traveled from Australia to Thailand with Oreibi shortly after their marriage "because we thought it would be the ideal country for her moon of honey ", but they ended up in the nightmare of arrest and detention.

She asked Briath to express her interest in people fleeing under torture, like her country, the young Saudi Saudi Arabian Rahaf Mohammed, who had fled from her family in Saudi Arabia. Thailand and was quickly transferred to Canada earlier this month.

Government officials were not immediately available to comment on Wednesday, but Brauith told reporters Tuesday that the Uribe case was under Thai jurisdiction.

Praiath acknowledged the concerns expressed by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who sent him a letter this week asking him not to expel Oreibi. But he also said that his country had good relations with Bahrain.

"We have a good friendship with everyone, we have to find a solution, I know everyone is concerned about this," said Braitho.

Oreibi is also one of the most critical critics of the president of the AFC, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, cousin of the King of Bahrain.

Sheikh Salman himself was exempted from any involvement in the Ureybi affair and AFC joined FIFA to ask Thailand to allow Ureybi to return to Australia.

Lawyer Nadhataseeri said the next step would be to check whether the Thai prosecution will file an application for eviction, presented by Bahrain this week, to the court. This should happen in early February.

(Reuters)