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Inside a small, concrete cell in Thailand, Hakeem AlAraibi finds himself surrounded by killers and “violent” offenders.
Key points:
- Bahrain requested Hakeem Alaraibi be detained after convicting him of vandalising a police station
- Foreign Minister Marisa Payne has vowed to advocate for his safe return to Australia
- Human rights groups, joined by former Socceroo Craig Foster, held a demonstration calling for his release
It’s a far cry from the soccer fields of Melbourne he’s accustomed to.
“I’m trying to be brave,” he told the ABC.
“But inside I’m broken.”
The Melbourne-based refugee and elite soccer player was detained last year when he stepped off a plane in Bangkok for a holiday with his wife, on the request of Bahrain, which has convicted him in absentia of vandalising a police station.
Mr AlAraibi denies the accusation, saying he was playing in a televised soccer match at the time of the incident and he is being persecuted for criticising a relative of the Bahrain royal family.
In December, a Thai court ordered Mr AlAraibi be detained in a remand prison for up to 60 days while Bahrain makes its case for his extradition.
It is where he currently remains.
Mr AlAraibi, who was recognised as a refugee and granted permanent resident in Australia in 2017, said he is made to sleep in a cell with 50 other prisoners.
“Some of them are in here for killing people. Violent things,” he said sadly.
“We sleep in a tiny space, you can’t even roll over it’s so small. And so hot.
“We sleep just on the concrete floor.”
Mr AlAraibi said Australian embassy officials in Bangkok had been visiting him once a week.
But as his time inside mounts, the 25-year-old is asking Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who is currently in Thailand, to intervene.
“I ask the Australian Government, please don’t forget me,” he said.
“Please bring me home to my wife.”
‘He just wants to come back to Australia’
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Thailand’s Foreign Minister and Justice Minister, Ms Payne said Australia remained “very concerned” about his ongoing detention.
“We are … very concerned about any potential for return of Mr Araibi to Bahrain,” Ms Payne said.
“I have reiterated those concerns to both ministers.
“The Thai Government is most certainly aware of the importance of this matter to Australia. I do note that there are legal proceedings underway in relation to Mr Araibi, and Australia will continue to be in close contact with Thai authorities in relation to this.”
If the Australian Government approves his citizenship application, Mr AlAraibi hopes it will help him get out of prison.
In the meantime, friends fear the longer Mr AlAraibi is detained, the more his condition will deteriorate.
“He didn’t look very good even though he’s positive … he just wants to come back to Australia,” Gonzalo Abascal, his Pascoe Vale teammate, who spoke to the 25-year-old from prison, said.
“He told me he is not having a very nice time in there, but he can wait, he can be strong.
“The main thing he told me is he doesn’t want to go to Bahrain, because he knows what can happen to him there.”
‘Disgraceful’ silence from Asian Football Confederation
Human rights groups on Thursday held a demonstration in front of the Sydney Opera House, calling for his release.
Former Socceroo Craig Foster, who spoke on behalf of the Australian football community, said the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) was not doing enough to support Mr AlAraibi.
Mr Foster said AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, himself a Bahrain national, was “known to Hakeem”, who had publicly criticised the Bahraini Government in 2016.
“He’s a very courageous young man who in 2016 stood up to the Bahraini Government, stood up to Sheikh Salman, the president of the AFC, and was critical of them publicly and their conduct during that period,” he said.
He told the gathering Sheikh Salman was “obligated to support Hakeem”.
“He is obligated to do everything in his power to advocate, both privately and publicly, and to use the immense leverage football has with the Bahrain Government … also with the Thai Government to release Hakeem,” he said.
“As yet, the silence of the Asian Football Confederation is not just confounding, it’s absolutely disgraceful under our human rights obligations within the entire football community.”
Human rights advocates hope Mr AlAraibi’s cause will be aided by the increased scrutiny on Thailand due to the ongoing case of Saudi teenager Rahaf Alqunun.
“The world’s attention really made the difference in Rahaf’s case,” Elaine Pearson from Human Rights Watch said.
“We saw how social media could be used to really mobilise and change the mind of the Thai Government.”
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