Thailand holds Australia responsible for arresting Bahrain Uribe player

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand defended on Wednesday the arrest of Bahrain-based hakim al-Oreibi, who has not detained it since Australian authorities sent Interpol's "red bulletin" after climbing to board of a plane bound for Bangkok.

The Uribe case has sparked international criticism, as a Thai court is considering a request for extradition from Bahrain seeking a 10-year sentence for the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. Oreibi denies the charges.

The authorities arrested him at Bangkok International Airport in November, while he was traveling from Australia to Thailand with his wife for a honeymoon.

Oreibi, 25, said he would be tortured when he was sent back to Bahrain and only wanted to return to Australia, where he has been living since 2014, playing in one of their football clubs in Melbourne. .

The Thai Foreign Ministry issued a statement Wednesday morning on the Oreibi case, describing the case as "a dispute between two countries over the detention of Mr. Hakim".

He added that Thailand had been implicated "accidentally" in the case after an Australian police office with an INTERPOL official had informed the Thai authorities that Oreibi had taken a plane for Bangkok and had been listed on the red alert list by Bahrain.

"It took several days after Hakim arrived before the Australian authorities told us that the red tract was canceled," the statement said.

"At that time, legal proceedings in Thailand were initiated against Mr. Hakim and could not be canceled," he said.

A spokesman for the Thai prosecutor's office said that Mr. Oreibi could remain in prison until August, the trial court needing two to three months to render his judgment after the next hearing, end of April.

"So from time to time, Hakim must be in custody until at least August," said a spokesman, Tramf Galichandra, during a press conference. He stated that he could only be released when Bahrain withdrew his application.

The Australian Home Office confirmed in December that the federal police had informed the Thai authorities that someone on the red sheet was en route to Thailand, without however stating it knew that Oreibi had refugee status.

The Embassy of Bahrain in Bangkok said that Oreibi was a fugitive and had to be fired.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Oreibi and all defendants in criminal cases in the Kingdom of Bahrain enjoy all legal rights while ensuring protection and access to adequate representation, the group said in a statement. from Wednesday.

* Handcuffs

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday called for the release of Oreibi and sent him back to Australia. He said he was "upset" to see Mr. Oreidi's handcuffed photos when he arrived in court earlier this week.

Australian Foreign Minister Maris Bin called on the Thai authorities to use their discretion in the Ureybi case.

"As a permanent resident in our country and on the path of citizenship, we encouraged the Bahraini government not to respond to the request for extradition and encouraged the Thai government to exercise its discretion," he said. she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation during a visit to the Solomon Islands.

Oreibi was found guilty of damaging a police station in his country in 2011 and sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia.

But Oreibi denies any wrongdoing, claiming he was playing at a live match at that time.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Oreibi was tortured by the Bahraini authorities for his brother's political activities during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising.