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| Hakeem al-Araibi: Thailand to free refugee footballer | Hakeem al-Araibi: Thailand to free refugee footballer |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A football player and refugee whose detention in Thailand sparked an outcry will be freed after Bahrain withdrew its extradition request, officials say. | A football player and refugee whose detention in Thailand sparked an outcry will be freed after Bahrain withdrew its extradition request, officials say. |
| Hakeem Al-Araibi, who is a Bahraini citizen, fled to Australia in 2014 and was granted political asylum. | Hakeem Al-Araibi, who is a Bahraini citizen, fled to Australia in 2014 and was granted political asylum. |
| He was detained in Bangkok in November on an Interpol notice requested by Bahrain. He had travelled to the Thai capital on honeymoon. | He was detained in Bangkok in November on an Interpol notice requested by Bahrain. He had travelled to the Thai capital on honeymoon. |
| He was sentenced in absentia to 10 years for vandalising a police station. | He was sentenced in absentia to 10 years for vandalising a police station. |
| Al-Araibi, 25, denies the charges and human rights activists say he could face torture if sent back to Bahrain. He has been a vocal critic of Bahraini authorities. | |
| His case has been taken up by high-profile footballers, with stars including Didier Drogba and Jamie Vardy calling for his release. The Australian government, Fifa and the International Olympic Committee all lobbied Thailand | |
| Thailand's Office of the Attorney General (OAG) asked the court to end proceedings against Al-Araibi because Bahrain had said it no longer wanted him, officials told BBC Thai on Monday. | Thailand's Office of the Attorney General (OAG) asked the court to end proceedings against Al-Araibi because Bahrain had said it no longer wanted him, officials told BBC Thai on Monday. |
| "This morning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed us that Bahrain was no longer interested in this request," OAG foreign office chief Chatchom Akapin said. | "This morning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed us that Bahrain was no longer interested in this request," OAG foreign office chief Chatchom Akapin said. |
| Craig Foster, a former Australian national football captain and TV host who spearheaded the campaign to free Hakeem, said there were "tears" in his household "right now". | |
| Al-Araibi plays for Pascoe Vale FC in Melbourne. | Al-Araibi plays for Pascoe Vale FC in Melbourne. |
| Last month, his wife told the BBC that extradition would put him in danger. | |
| "I'm calling on every country to help Hakeem because I know if he gets taken back he will be tortured, and he will be killed," she said. | |
| But Bahrain said al-Araibi had been sentenced by an independent judiciary "on charges involving serious violence and criminality, unrelated to any possible freedom of opinion/expression issues". | |
| It said his safety would be "guaranteed" if he returned to Bahrain to appeal against the sentence. |