Hakeem Ali Mohammed Ali al-Araibi (; born 7 November 1993) is an Australian-Bahraini footballer who plays for St Albans Saints. He played for local club Al-Shabab and in the Bahraini national team before he fled as a dissident and refugee when the team was in Qatar in January 2014. He has played for various teams in Victoria since 2015, and since 2022 has played for St Albans Saints in NPL Victoria. He also holds a permanent position as Community and Human Rights Advocate with Football Victoria. He became an Australian citizen in 2019.
In November 2018, he was arrested on arrival in Thailand for a vacation from Australia, on the basis of an Interpol "red notice" issued by Bahrain. He was held there pending deportation to Bahrain, which he opposed. There was a campaign urging Thailand not to extradite him until 11 February 2019, when the Thai Office of the Attorney-General dropped the extradition case against him at Bahrain's request. He was returned to Australia the next day and became an Australian citizen shortly afterwards. The story of the campaign to free al-Haraibi is told in the 2023 documentary film The Defenders, by filmmaker Matthew Bate.
Life and career in Bahrain Hakeem Ali Mohammed Ali al-Araibi was born in Bahrain on 7 November 1993. He became a professional footballer there, playing as a defender for the Bahrain national football team and for local Manama club Al-Shabab. Al-Shabab spent years in Bahrain's top division and included a number of young players who had represented the country's various national youth teams. Al-Araibi was one of these, playing for Bahrain's Olympic team.
As a 15-year-old in 2009, he had been spotted playing by a school teacher, whose suggestion to a local scout brought him to the attention of the Bahrain Football Association (BFA). In 2010 he was called up to the Under-17 squad. He was overjoyed, and saw the national teams as symbols of unity between the Shia and Sunni populations of the country.
In 2009 his family lived in Jidhafs, a few kilometres west of Manama. He has a brother, Emad, who is imprisoned in Bahrain for the same offence as that with which Hakeem is being charged. Emad had come to the attention of authorities as an activist before the 2011 Bahraini uprising during the Arab Spring, and one night at the end of 2011 police turned up at the family home at 3am, looking for him. As Emad was not there, they took Hakeem, accused him of burning tyres, which he denied, and held him for three months, until February 2011 and the uprising was under way.
The BFA (then headed by Sheikh Salman), targeted Al-Shabab, being a Shia club, and for almost a year after the revolution there was no football there. Eventually they demoted the club to the second division.
After his arrest and detention in November 2012, Hakeem returned to play for Al-Shabab and in late 2013 was called up for the senior national team by the newly appointed English coach, Anthony Hudson.
In November 2013 al-Araibi travelled with the national team to Qatar for the 2014 West Asian Football Federation Championship, where the team drew 0–0 with Iraq on 28 December 2013.
Dissent and conviction Al-Araibi spoke out against the persecution and torture of other footballers who had demonstrated against the ruling regime during the Bahraini uprising of 2011 (which was mostly led by Bahrain's majority Shia, as is al-Araibi, whilst the ruling family is Sunni).
On his 19th birthday on 7 November 2012, walking on his way to a café in Bahrain, he was picked up by Bahraini security forces. They accused him of vandalising a police station four days earlier, based on the supposed confession of his brother Emad, who allegedly told them that Hakeem had been part of a crowd of protesters who set upon the building with Molotov cocktails.
The next day Al-Araibi told the public prosecutor he had been playing in a televised football match when the attack took place and denied the allegations. But his detention was extended for 45 days, during which he says security forces tried to torture a confession out of him. He told German broadcaster ARD "They spent three hours hitting me hard on my legs, while saying we will break your bones, we will destroy your future, you will never play football again with these legs." He was then released on bail.
Details of alleged offence and the prosecution case After fleeing the country, al-Araibi was tried in absentia for vandalism of Al Khamees police station in Manama on 3 November 2012, when, according to police, a mob of 150 people had attacked the building, throwing Molotov cocktails and smashing windows, which he denies, and sentenced to ten years in prison. Amnesty International describe this trial as "unfair". The alleged vandalism was said to have taken place at around the time that al-Araibi was playing in a televised football match.
The time of the attack on the police station is key to Hakeem Al-Arabi's alibi. His brother said the attack took place at 6.30 pm, but Hakeem was playing in a nationally televised game for his club Al-Shabab at the Al-Muharraq Stadium from 5.30 pm to 7.20 pm, with the Bahrain Football Association, the Al-Shabab club and fellow players confirming this. Footage from the game broadcast by Bahrain Sports Channel 1 showing al-Araibi playing was also submitted. However prosecution said that the mob had gathered earlier and the attack had taken place at 8 pm and that Hakeem would have had enough time to leave the stadium after finishing the match and take part in it 40 minutes later. The Al Khamees police station is 20 km south-west of the stadium, across on the other side of the city, and it was a Saturday night.
The entire case being brought by Bahrain is based on the alleged confession by his brother Emad to Bahraini police, which led to Emad's imprisonment. BIRD has said that Emad's testimony was obtained through physical and psychological duress.
Asylum and life in Australia Al-Araibi took his opportunity to flee the country when out on bail and playing football for the national team in 2013 in Qatar.NOTE: This must have been either in the 21st Arabian Gulf Cup in January 2013 or the Under-23s GCC Championship in August 2013 – probably the former as it would have been soon after his detention. He fled first to Iran, then Malaysia, then Thailand and eventually, nearly six months later, to Australia where he sought asylum in May 2014. Since then, he has lived in Melbourne, marrying his wife (whom he had known since he was 17) and playing semi-professional football. He was granted refugee status in Australia in 2017, which allowed him to travel with documentation and the assurance of protection. He gained Australian citizenship in March 2019.
He has played as a defender in several semi-professional football teams in Victoria.
Speaking up about torture in Bahrain Speaking to international media from Australia in 2016, al-Araibi said that Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, a member of Bahrain's ruling royal family and then running for president of FIFA, should be investigated for possible involvement in the mass torture of pro-democracy athletes who had protested against the royal family during the 2011 uprising. Al-Araibi also accused Sheikh Salman of discriminating against Shia Muslims. Salman lost his bid for the FIFA presidency, but remains president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and is still a FIFA vice-president.
After return from Thailand: Feb 2019 On 27 February 2019 al-Araibi told of his ordeal in The Guardian, expressing his gratitude to all concerned for helping to secure his release and his relief at his return, but also of his belief that Bahrain will continue to pursue him. He also wrote of several cases of Bahrain's abuse of human rights, including the detention of activist Najah Yusuf and jiujitsu champion Mohamed Mirza, and his belief in the ability of sports bodies to apply effective pressure to bring about change.
In November 2019 he was appointed to the role of Community and Human Rights Advocate with Football Victoria. A role created in collaboration with Professional Footballers Australia, its aim is to inspire and support players from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, by telling his own story. Initially announced as a part-time position, it was confirmed as a permanent full-time position in December 2019. he is still in the role.
Detention in Thailand Al-Araibi and his wife flew to Thailand on 27 November 2018 for a belated honeymoon, but both were detained upon arrival at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, at the request of Bahraini authorities, and in response to an Interpol red notice. The couple were moved to the Suan Plu immigration detention centre on 2 December. Al-Araibi's wife was later released and he was moved to Bangkok Remand Prison.
Questions about the role of the Australian Federal Police in his arrest were raised after it was reported that the AFP, working as locally based Interpol, had notified Thailand of his arrival and did not flag his refugee status. However, this was denied in a later press statement given by the Australian government, which said that by Bahrain had issued the Red Notice on 8 November 2018. The statement said that on 30 November Interpol rescinded the Red Notice, which had been issued erroneously and contrary to Interpol's rules regarding refugees and asylum-seekers, upon advice from Australia.
On 4 February 2019 al-Araibi arrived at the Bangkok court with his feet shackled together in front of many international supporters and news cameras, begging not to be sent back to Bahrain. However the Thai attorney-general's office ruled that Bahrain had a legitimate "criminal" case, and the court granted him 60 days, until 5 April, to submit his legal defence to stop his extradition to the country of his birth. He would have to remain in a Thai prison until his next court appearance on 22 April, after he was denied bail, when decisions would be made on permissible witnesses and the length of the extradition hearing. Al-Araibi's lawyer, Nadthasiri Bergman, said that it was "clearly a political case".
On 11 February, he was released after Thai prosecutors dropped the case on Bahrain's request, and arrived in Australia the following day. He was granted Australian citizenship one month later, on 12 March 2019.
Local and international campaigns and other responses In response to al-Araibi's detention, Amnesty International, who have criticised the low level of human rights in Bahrain, pointed out that under international law, it is prohibited to return an individual to a territory when there is a reasonable fear that the individual will be at real risk of suffering torture or other serious human rights violations. Refoulement is considered a grave breach of a fundamental international human rights law.
His case was widely reported on major news outlets throughout the world, and was compared to that of Saudi Arabian woman Rahaf Mohammed, who was detained in Bangkok on 5 January 2019 at the request of Saudi authorities after fleeing the country, but released after criticism on social media and United Nations intervention, after being granted asylum in Canada.
Amnesty International Australia created a "Write for Rights" campaign for individuals to email Thai officials via their website, attracting 53,218 signatories as at 4 February 2019.
The Australian government, Football Federation Australia (FFA), Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), and FIFA all called for his release and return to Australia. FIFA called for al-Araibi's return to Australia in early December 2018 in communications with the FFA (although did not issue a media statement until January), and the FFA called for his return to Australia on 10 December.