Bangkok: Thailand will free by the end of Monday a refugee Bahraini footballer with residency status in Australia, who was arrested more than two months ago, a prosecutor in the case said, after Bahrain abandoned its bid to seek his extradition.
Hakeem Al Araibi, 25, who fled Bahrain in 2014 and received refugee status in Australia, was arrested in November at a Bangkok airport while on a honeymoon trip following an Interpol notice issued at Bahrain's request.
However, the kingdom has withdrawn the request, leading a Thai court to approve a motion by prosecutors to drop the case against the footballer, said Chatchom Akapin, an official in the Thai Attorney-General's office.
"The court will now issue an order to release Mr Hakeem from jail today," said Chatchom, the director-general of the office's international affairs department.
"There are no grounds to hold him anymore. It is his right to decide where he will go next. He is a free man."
It was not immediately clear when Bahrain withdrew its extradition request. Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had no comment on the case.
The detention of Al Araibi, who appeared at a court hearing in shackles last week, drew international criticism.
Al Araibi has said he wants to return to Australia, where he has lived since 2014 and plays for a Melbourne football club.
He was convicted of vandalising a police station during 2011 anti-government protests in Bahrain and sentenced in absentia after he fled. Al Araibi denies the charges, saying he was playing in a televised soccer match at the time of the attack.
Bahrain said it has taken note of a "halt of legal proceedings" against Al Araibi.
Bahrain's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that a 10-year jail sentence imposed on Al Araibi in absentia by a Bahraini court remained in place and reaffirmed its right to "pursue all necessary legal actions against him".
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