11 Feb Hakeem al-Araibi to return to Australia after Bahrain extradition withdrawn

Melbourne-based refugee Hakeem al-Araibi has avoided extradition to Bahrain and will return to Australia.

A Thai court ruled that the 25-year-old’s extradition case be dropped at the request of the director-general of international affairs for the Thai Government.

Mr Al-Araibi was detained in Bangkok for over two months after he was alleged of a vandalism offence.

The footballer fled Bahrain in 2014 after a Bahraini court sentenced him in absentia to 10 years in prison over claims that he damaged a police station.

He was arrested and detained in November last year while on honeymoon with his wife in Bangkok on an Interpol notice issued by Bahrain.