{"id":867,"date":"2019-02-12T21:13:40","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T21:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?p=867"},"modified":"2019-02-12T21:13:40","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T21:13:40","slug":"thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Thai Authorities Release Bahraini Refugee Soccer Player Amidst Diplomatic Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, the IELR Blog reported<\/a> on the case of Hakeem al-Araibi, a 25-year-old refugee originally from Bahrain who resides and plays professional soccer in Australia. While al-Araibi has retained refugee status in Australia since 2017, Bahraini authorities have had an arrest warrant out for him since he fled the country in 2014. They allege that al-Araibi vandalized a police station, even though he was playing in<\/a> a televised soccer match when the supposed crime took place. Bahraini authorities issued an INTERPOL Red Notice against al-Araibi, so after travelling from Australia to Thailand last November, he was arrested. However, INTERPOL soon lifted<\/a> that request, as red notices are not meant to apply to refugees. Nevertheless, he was entered into Thai custody, where he awaited his potential extradition to Bahrain.<\/p>\n

On Monday, February 11, Thai authorities released<\/a> al-Araibi after detaining him for more than two months. According to Thailand\u2019s Office of the Attorney General (OAG), Bahraini authorities no longer sought al-Araibi\u2019s extradition, leaving the OAG no further reason to detain him. Although Bahrain terminated their extradition request, they emphasized that they had not cleared al-Araibi of the charges against him. Bahrain\u2019s Foreign Ministry issued an official statement, noting<\/a> that \u201cThe Kingdom of Bahrain reaffirms its right to pursue all necessary legal actions against Mr. al-Araibi.\u201d<\/p>\n

Al-Araibi\u2019s release follows a massive international outcry<\/a> against his detention. Since al-Araibi had made no secret of his public opposition to Bahrain\u2019s human rights record, many attributed his arrest to his previous comments. Figures from the sports world and beyond spoke in his defense. \u201cHakeem\u2019s case is about a football player, it\u2019s about a human-rights defender, it\u2019s about a refugee and it\u2019s about global sport\u2019s ability to uphold its stated commitment to human rights,\u201d said Mr. Schwab, executive director of the World Players Association. FIFA officials, as well as members of the International Olympic Committee, also vocalized their support for al-Araibi.<\/p>\n

The Australian government applied pressure on Thailand as well. Even though Thailand claims<\/a> that they were acting on an INTERPOL Red Notice, Australia denies having tipped off Thai authorities to the red notice. Thailand\u2019s Foreign Minister has stood firm, stating that they \u201cwould not have become involved in the issue had we not received the red notice alert from the Australian Interpol.\u201d In spite of this diplomatic tit-for-tat, Australia has continuously lobbied<\/a> on al-Araibi\u2019s behalf. Upon al-Araibi\u2019s release<\/a>, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison praised the outcome, as well as al-Araibi\u2019s imminent return to Australia.<\/p>\n

Al-Araibi has since returned<\/a> to Australia. Although Interpol has removed the red notice against him due to his refugee status, al-Araibi\u2019s conviction still stands under Bahraini law. Yet with the red notice removed, it will prove incredibly difficult for Bahrain to detain al-Araibi, regardless of the recent negative press against the country. Instead, human rights law \u2013 supported by diplomatic pressure \u2013 has ensured Hakeem al-Araibi\u2019s safe return home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, the IELR Blog reported on the case of Hakeem al-Araibi, a 25-year-old refugee originally from Bahrain who resides and plays professional soccer in Australia. While al-Araibi has retained refugee status in Australia since 2017, Bahraini authorities have had an arrest warrant out for him since he fled the country in 2014. They allege […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,36],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-867","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-counterterrorism-and-international-human-rights","7":"category-extradition","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nThai Authorities Release Bahraini Refugee Soccer Player Amidst Diplomatic Pressure | IELR Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thai Authorities Release Bahraini Refugee Soccer Player Amidst Diplomatic Pressure | IELR Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week, the IELR Blog reported on the case of Hakeem al-Araibi, a 25-year-old refugee originally from Bahrain who resides and plays professional soccer in Australia. While al-Araibi has retained refugee status in Australia since 2017, Bahraini authorities have had an arrest warrant out for him since he fled the country in 2014. They allege […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IELR Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/intlenforcementlawreporter\/?ref=bookmarks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-12T21:13:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alex Psilakis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ielr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ielr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alex Psilakis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/12\\\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/12\\\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alex Psilakis\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c06f05576daf31dc90c2d208c7eeb37a\"},\"headline\":\"Thai Authorities Release Bahraini Refugee Soccer Player Amidst Diplomatic Pressure\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-12T21:13:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/12\\\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":499,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Counterterrorism & International Human Rights\",\"extradition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/12\\\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/12\\\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/12\\\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\\\/\",\"name\":\"Thai Authorities Release Bahraini Refugee Soccer Player Amidst Diplomatic Pressure | IELR Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-12T21:13:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c06f05576daf31dc90c2d208c7eeb37a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/12\\\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/12\\\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/12\\\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thai Authorities Release Bahraini Refugee Soccer Player Amidst Diplomatic Pressure\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"IELR Blog\",\"description\":\"Official Blog of the International Enforcement Law Reporter\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c06f05576daf31dc90c2d208c7eeb37a\",\"name\":\"Alex Psilakis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ffb06f3c5bcea17005ee713d2c7945fdbe810e39f21977cceb2f690d28469b4d?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ffb06f3c5bcea17005ee713d2c7945fdbe810e39f21977cceb2f690d28469b4d?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ffb06f3c5bcea17005ee713d2c7945fdbe810e39f21977cceb2f690d28469b4d?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alex Psilakis\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/apsilakis\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thai Authorities Release Bahraini Refugee Soccer Player Amidst Diplomatic Pressure | IELR Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thai Authorities Release Bahraini Refugee Soccer Player Amidst Diplomatic Pressure | IELR Blog","og_description":"Last week, the IELR Blog reported on the case of Hakeem al-Araibi, a 25-year-old refugee originally from Bahrain who resides and plays professional soccer in Australia. While al-Araibi has retained refugee status in Australia since 2017, Bahraini authorities have had an arrest warrant out for him since he fled the country in 2014. They allege […]","og_url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/","og_site_name":"IELR Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/intlenforcementlawreporter\/?ref=bookmarks","article_published_time":"2019-02-12T21:13:40+00:00","author":"Alex Psilakis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ielr","twitter_site":"@ielr","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alex Psilakis","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/"},"author":{"name":"Alex Psilakis","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c06f05576daf31dc90c2d208c7eeb37a"},"headline":"Thai Authorities Release Bahraini Refugee Soccer Player Amidst Diplomatic Pressure","datePublished":"2019-02-12T21:13:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/"},"wordCount":499,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Counterterrorism & International Human Rights","extradition"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/","url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/","name":"Thai Authorities Release Bahraini Refugee Soccer Player Amidst Diplomatic Pressure | IELR Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-02-12T21:13:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c06f05576daf31dc90c2d208c7eeb37a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/12\/thai-authorities-release-bahraini-refugee-soccer-player-amidst-diplomatic-pressure\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thai Authorities Release Bahraini Refugee Soccer Player Amidst Diplomatic Pressure"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/","name":"IELR Blog","description":"Official Blog of the International Enforcement Law Reporter","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c06f05576daf31dc90c2d208c7eeb37a","name":"Alex Psilakis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ffb06f3c5bcea17005ee713d2c7945fdbe810e39f21977cceb2f690d28469b4d?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ffb06f3c5bcea17005ee713d2c7945fdbe810e39f21977cceb2f690d28469b4d?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ffb06f3c5bcea17005ee713d2c7945fdbe810e39f21977cceb2f690d28469b4d?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","caption":"Alex Psilakis"},"url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/author\/apsilakis\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pas6ng-dZ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":868,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867\/revisions\/868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}