Hakim Oreibi: The wife of a Bahraini player calls on world leaders to put pressure on Thailand to release him

The wife of a Bahraini football player detained in Thailand, Hakim Oreibi, urged world leaders to pressure the Thai government to release him.

Oreibi, 25, got asylum, but Bangkok retains him in jail after an international police warrant was issued at the request of Bahrain.

Bahrain said that he had been sentenced after a fair trial and that his deportation proceedings were ongoing.

But Oreibi's wife told the BBC that her deportation would put her in danger.

"I call all countries to help Hakim because I know that if he is sent back to Bahrain, he will be tortured and killed."

His 24-year-old Australian wife, who refused to be identified, said he wrote a special appeal in a letter to Thai Prime Minister Brayut Chan-Ocha.

The letter, which will be delivered to his office on Wednesday, said: "The future of (Hakim) is in your hands, help him, please, to return to Australia."

The Australian government, the International Football Federation (FIFA) and the International Olympic Committee, have lobbied Thailand for it to release Oreibi.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison wrote to Mr. Brayot earlier this week to tell him that he had resided permanently in Australia and urged him not to be deported to Bahrain.

Brayot said he had received a letter from Morrison expressing concern, but that it was in the hands of Thai courts, reported Reuters.

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Oreibi was sentenced in absentia in 2014 to 10 years imprisonment for sabotage of a police station.

Oreibi was on vacation in Thailand when authorities arrested him at Bangkok airport on November 27.

Oreibi fears being tortured and possibly killed when he is handed over to his home country. In an interview with the Guardian, he said the current situation was hitting him with "horror" and "loss of hope".

He fled to Australia in 2014 and got asylum in 2017. He currently plays for the Pasco Valley Club in Melbourne, Australia.

He was one of the most outspoken critics of the Bahraini authorities and Human Rights Watch said he was also targeted because of his brother 's political activity.

Last year, Oreibi told Human Rights Watch that he had already been tortured in Bahrain after the 2012 Arab Spring protests.