Bahrain Mirror: Lucy Zelić, SBS Television Chief Football Host and SBS World News Sports Presenter, wrote a tweet yesterday saying she had sent a letter to the Thai prime minister calling him to release Hakeem Al-Araibi and urging him to allow his return to Australia as soon as possible.

"It's been over two months since Australian refugee and footballer, Hakeem al-Araibi was falsely detained in Thailand," the tweet read with an attached picture of her letter to the Thai Prime Minister calling for his release.

"You can too. Let's all stand together to #SaveHakeem," she said urging her followers to join the campaign calling for Al-Araibi's release.

In her letter to Prime Minister of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha, Zelić pointed out that Al-Araibi "is a valued member of the Australian football community and this grave violation of human rights has prompted protests and attracted the support of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, highly regarded football identities, and Football Federation Australia."

"Should Mr. Al-Araibi be returned to Bahrain, a country which he has fled and which he fears, it would be an extraordinary breach of Thailand's human rights obligations," Zelić stressed.

Thai authorities arrested Al-Araibi on his first trip outside Australia since he left Bahrain in 2014 and was granted permanent residency in Australia in November 2017.

He was sentenced in absentia in Bahrain in 2014 to 10 years in prison for allegedly vandalizing a police station in Bahrain, which Al-Araibi denies.

Arabic Version