Feet shackled, Bahraini footballer arrives at Thai court to fight extradition

[simple1]

46 minutes ago, Chris Lawrence said:

Should have gone to Port Douglas.

 

Never ever leave the country until you finalise your visa.

 

What did he really do to pi-s off the noble elite from Bahrain?

he spoke out against the dictatorship and was arrested and tortured. Upon release obtained official refugee and PR status in Oz. he was informed safe to travel to Thailand. More info via Google

[IAMHERE]

3 hours ago, khunken said:

Absolutely.

After the farcical court proceedings, the PM has the ultimate power to decide where he goes. So this is just prolonging his incarceration for a pretence of justice.

 

Maybe the can is being kicked down the road; sixty days may have a new PM.

[Sydebolle]

From the honeymoon suite to shackles - how humiliating can Thais be. Social competence was never a strong point here but this takes the biscuit. 

Shame on the authorities for this puppeteria; a disgrace of the first order! 

[JAG]

3 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Blame Interpol. They issued a notice at the request of Bahrain. So much for their "not to take action when cases are politically motivated" rule; and they ignored his UN refugee status and granting of asylum by Australia.

 

Thailand, as members of Interpol, have a responsibility to act.

 

But one would hope the Thai courts would also quickly recognize the UN and Australian position and release him back to Australia. 

 

As for making him wear shackles and bare feet to attend court - that does so much for the image!

I understand that Interpol have rescinded the notice. 

 

Thailand seems to be determined to continue. 

 

I wonder why (how much)? 

[Burma Bill]

6 hours ago, CelticBhoy said:

Are those shackles really necessary?

Leave the guy with some dignity, <deleted>!

I totally agree. It is shameful behavior in the 21st Century. Do Thai "Hi-So's" get the same treatment when incarcerated to appear in Court????. I suppose the authorities think the Judge must be protected from "kick-boxing"!

[Russell17au]

6 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

This is so very wrong on so many levels.

Although I am not particularly  sympathetic to the opponents of the cruel Bahrain dictatorship, the harsh treatment of a legitimate political refugee under the protection of Australia, gives a very negative image of Thailand. 

 

I have the impression that the powers that be are more interested in keeping a small group of super rich despots happy than in respecting international law, and upholding basic human rights.  The poor chap must be released to Australia without delay. I hope that Australia takes all available measures including the imposition of sanctions if this continues. 

You should check international law in regards to refugees. He walked out of Australia's protection when he boarded that plane in Australia as a Bahraini citizen traveling on a Bahraini passport, he should have gone to the Australian government BEFORE he left and gotten the correct Refugee travel documents that would have given him the same protection as an Australian citizen and this is why the Australian government cannot demand his release they can only request it. It is the same in every country in the world. A refugee is only protected whilst they remain in that country and if they want to travel outside that country there is internationally recognized documents that a refugee can get which keeps them under the protection of the country that granted the refugee status. It is not Australia's or Thailand's fault, it is this mans fault for not getting those travel documents. Thailand's hands were tied by international law, there was an international arrest warrant and Bahrain had not withdrawn that, so he had to be arrested.

[Kevbo]

4 hours ago, Thechook said:

Silly man.  He  only had refugee status in Australia and was going through a process and he decides to leave Australia possibly thinking he had the rights of an Australian citizen.  No longer Australia's problem as he left the countru

Exactly, pushed his luck. Why not honeymoon in Oz ?

[evadgib]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Reporters, activists, and officials, including Australian ambassador-designate to Thailand Allan McKinnon, waited to greet Araibi, who was led into the courthouse wearing a beige prison uniform.

How do the 'not Australias problem' brigade explain this?

[Russell17au]

6 minutes ago, evadgib said:

How do the 'not Australias problem' brigade explain this?

Australia can be represented at the court and Australia can request his release but they cannot demand it unless he had traveled with the Australian government supplied refugee travel documents for which he did not have. If he had gone and gotten the proper travel documents then this would not have happened because he would have been travelling on Australian documents and not on a Bahraini passport.

[evadgib]

2 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

Australia can be represented at the court and Australia can request his release but they cannot demand it unless he had traveled with the Australian government supplied refugee travel documents for which he did not have. If he had gone and gotten the proper travel documents then this would not have happened because he would have been travelling on Australian documents and not on a Bahraini passport.

Wouldn't that constitute 'interfering'? 

[Russell17au]

3 minutes ago, evadgib said:

Wouldn't that constitute 'interfering'? 

No, Australia will only be there to represent Australian interests in the case and if the court asks then they can present a case for his release into their care and then they will get him back to the Australian Embassy then ensure his departure back to Australia IF the court decides not to hand him over to Bahrain. If there is no representative from Australia at the court then IF he is released there is nothing to stop Bahrain from grabbing him and getting him out of the country. That is why Australian representative is there

[boonrawdcnx]

The huge difference is that there was an international arrest warrant out for this guy and there wasnt one for the Saudi woman .
   Difficult situation for Thailand , as Thailand is just required to arrest him and send him back to where he faces a trail , its not up tp Thailand to pass judgement on whether he is guilty or not or whether he deserves is jail sentence or to go on trial in Bahrain 

There has never been an international arrest warrant. A red notice that has since been canceled by Interpol !
A red notice can be issued by any corrupt government out to get political opponents or in this case to satisfy corrupt Bahraini goat herders who call themselves “Royals” - Thailand has no right to keep him in custody after the notice was withdrawn - period.

This whole farce of pretending to follow the “law” in a country where an illegal government reigns, where the law can be bent and judges can be bought at will by the rich is nothing but a big joke.

Australia should now make public the accusations and the fact that he was playing football live on tv while he was supposed to have committed “his crime” should expose those involved and end this farce !



Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[anchadian]

Here's the video

 

 

http://twitter.com/i/status/1092398401310715904

[mark131v]

In the news for all the wrong reasons, proper good job the powers that be are doing...…..

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-47113179

 

Just cannot seem to help themselves, then again when your an uneducated buffoon who is only in the job because of their family's name rather than through anything remotely resembling skill then that is inevitable, worryingly that seems to fit for all levels of Thai society.....  

[WyrldTraveler]

Assuming that the notice has been withdrawn, the continuation of the 'legal process' is theater to get people emotional about someone else's problem.  For the Thais, it may do the following:

 

• Show the world that Thailand follows the Law like representative democracies in the West.
• Show the Thai people that they do not give foreigners special treatment, but treat all equally under Law.
• Curry favor with Bahrain by further embarrassing him.
• Curry favor with Australia by (probably) releasing him after the courtroom drama and allowing Australia to be seen actively defending refugees (even if footballers).
• Distract the populace from the global economic collapse, government corruption surfacing in the media, ongoing global cooling, pollution and other things that no one can stop.
• Other things that escape me at the moment.

 

The shackles are propaganda.  Probably some jailer's idea to curry favor with their superiors.

 

 

[Russell17au]

49 minutes ago, boonrawdcnx said:

There has never been an international arrest warrant. A red notice that has since been canceled by Interpol !
A red notice can be issued by any corrupt government out to get political opponents or in this case to satisfy corrupt Bahraini goat herders who call themselves “Royals” - Thailand has no right to keep him in custody after the notice was withdrawn - period.

This whole farce of pretending to follow the “law” in a country where an illegal government reigns, where the law can be bent and judges can be bought at will by the rich is nothing but a big joke.

Australia should now make public the accusations and the fact that he was playing football live on tv while he was supposed to have committed “his crime” should expose those involved and end this farce !



Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

There was an arrest warrant issued Bahraini Court for this man because he failed to appear for his court hearing and he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years prison and because he had fled the country this arrest warrant was lodged with Interpol and that is what generated the Interpol Red Notice and even though Interpol cancelled the Red Notice after 4 years, it does not have the power to cancel the arrest warrant. Thailand has all the right under international law to hold this man in custody until either the Bahraini extradition claim is upheld or dismissed. Australia has no right to make anything public as you claim, it is up to this man to face his accusers and show his evidence.

There are many people on here who only look at the emotional side and not the facts and this causes much more problems for this man than if they let the legal side get on with what must be done.

This man left the safety of Australia without the documentation that would have protected him. That is the fact

[NanLaew]

9 hours ago, sanemax said:

Difficult situation for Thailand , as Thailand is just required to arrest him and send him back to where he faces a trail , its not up tp Thailand to pass judgement on whether he is guilty or not or whether he deserves is jail sentence or to go on trial in Bahrain 

What's difficult is Thailand's unwillingness to accept that the improperly filed Interpol red-notice that was curiously issued only 4 days after Hakeem applied for his Thai visa, has already been rescinded.

 

8 hours ago, webfact said:

"The Thai prime minister should simply step up and say this is a politically motivated charge, that the international reputation of Thailand is being damaged, and that Hakeem Al Araibi should immediately be released," Foster told Reuters.

The who should do what now?

[NanLaew]

4 hours ago, Russell17au said:

You should check international law in regards to refugees. He walked out of Australia's protection when he boarded that plane in Australia as a Bahraini citizen traveling on a Bahraini passport, he should have gone to the Australian government BEFORE he left and gotten the correct Refugee travel documents that would have given him the same protection as an Australian citizen and this is why the Australian government cannot demand his release they can only request it. It is the same in every country in the world. A refugee is only protected whilst they remain in that country and if they want to travel outside that country there is internationally recognized documents that a refugee can get which keeps them under the protection of the country that granted the refugee status. It is not Australia's or Thailand's fault, it is this mans fault for not getting those travel documents. Thailand's hands were tied by international law, there was an international arrest warrant and Bahrain had not withdrawn that, so he had to be arrested.

From what I heard earlier, he was traveling on his 'refugee papers' when he was arrested by Immigration on arrival in Bangkok. If there's evidence to the contrary, it would be good to see.

[GroveHillWanderer]

According to a report by Australia's ABC News, he wasn't traveling on a Bahraini passport and was indeed using an Australian-issued travel document.

 

The Interpol Red Notice wasn't cancelled after four years, it wasn't issued until he'd already asked for and been granted a visa for Thailand and was cancelled shortly after he was detained.

 

Also he didn't just leave assuming he was somehow protected, he contacted the Australian immigration authorities several times to check he was safe to travel and was given multiple assurances he was protected and could go “anywhere but Bahrain”.

 

As to the facts of his case, his lawyers say he was playing in a televised football match at the time he was supposed to have committed the offences. 

[chickenslegs]

1 hour ago, anchadian said:

Here's the video

 

 

http://twitter.com/i/status/1092398401310715904

An interesting and pertinent comment in that clip - one which we can not discuss here.

[sanemax]

13 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

An interesting and pertinent comment in that clip - one which we can not discuss here.

Did he talk about moderation on Thai Visa ?

[chickenslegs]

1 minute ago, sanemax said:

Did he talk about moderation on Thai Visa ?

Even more serious than that.

[Prissana Pescud]

I love my life in Thailand. But this is disgusting

[sanemax]

24 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

Even more serious than that.

It just said that the Two Countries Royal Families have a close relationship .

I dont think that breaks any rules 

[chickenslegs]

2 minutes ago, sanemax said:

It just said that the Two Countries Royal Families have a close relationship .

I dont think that breaks any rules 

Correct, the clip does not break any rules. But, further discussion/opinions might. Which is what I was alluding to.

[champers]

Interestingly, Thailand advertise on BBC World News and then Jonathon Head's report pops up to contrast the advert with reality.

[greeneking]

3 hours ago, WyrldTraveler said:

Assuming that the notice has been withdrawn, the continuation of the 'legal process' is theater to get people emotional about someone else's problem.  For the Thais, it may do the following:

 

• Show the world that Thailand follows the Law like representative democracies in the West.
• Show the Thai people that they do not give foreigners special treatment, but treat all equally under Law.
• Curry favor with Bahrain by further embarrassing him.
• Curry favor with Australia by (probably) releasing him after the courtroom drama and allowing Australia to be seen actively defending refugees (even if footballers).
• Distract the populace from the global economic collapse, government corruption surfacing in the media, ongoing global cooling, pollution and other things that no one can stop.
• Other things that escape me at the moment.

 

The shackles are propaganda.  Probably some jailer's idea to curry favor with their superiors.

 

 

Will show the royals in the desert that people in the tropics understand the need to discipline and control.

[tomta]

5 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

An interesting and pertinent comment in that clip - one which we can not discuss here.

Yes indeed. Jonathan Head pushing the envelope a little?

[stud858]

I would just have to kill myself somehow in Thai police custody. Needing medication to control severe anxiety, I'm guessing I wouldn't be afforded any compassion especially with such a condition because the affects are not seen by the witnessing person. But inside the feeling is unbearable. This guy must be feeling terrible regardless of his strength. 

 

Has there not been a response by the Thai authority regarding the undeniable claim that the guy has an alibi.

I.e the time of destruction of police property happened while he was playing football.

I can only imagine that those details are not true or he would be set free.

 

[Destiny1990]

In my home country  they sadly receiveing free housing , passports monthly 1000 euros , insurance and free lawyers etcetc. Thailand gives them feet shackles.