Thread by @Jo_Soucek

THREAD
Let's pick apart the Thai Foreign Ministry Press Release:

#SaveHakeem

Paragraph 1

Hakeem was met at the airport upon arrival by officials who had an old Bahrain passport of his and official documents. The only place they could have gotten those was from Bahrain so they were notified of impending arrival by Bahrain.

The red notice would have triggered in Thailand anyway upon Hakeem's arrival regardless of Australia's notification. This red notice was issued by Bahrain, not Australia.

So Thailand would have become and were involved in this due to Bahrain, not just Australia as they claim.

Paragraphs 2 & 3

Hakeem was told on 31 Nov to book flight home because Thailand planned to release him. He was stopped 3hrs before flight after pressure from Bahrain, confirmed by embassy in Thailand. Process could have been stopped there. Executive branch of government CHOSE to continue process.

Hakeem was originally detained under the Immigration Act as an illegal alien. This allowed for 7 days detention only and for this to be extended he had to be brought before the court. This occurred on 3 December and detention was extended.

At this point Immigration Chief confirmed red notice had been lifted and there was no arrest warrant from Bahrain. Authorities could have released him as no legal proceedings against him. Process could have stopped there. Executive branch of government CHOSE to continue process.

Bahrain sent arrest warrant to Foreign Affairs who then sent it to Attorney General who decides whether to accept. Process could have been stopped there. AG applied to Thai court to issue local arrest warrant. So executive branch of the government CHOSE to continue this process.

Attorney General then has 60 days to decide whether to agree to extradition request. It is the executive government's CHOICE whether this happens. Process could have stopped there.
#SaveHakeem

It was confirmed by the prosecutor at the hearing on Monday that the executive government can step in and halt proceedings at any time. Therefore the legal process can be stopped.
#SaveHakeem

Paragraph 4 #SaveHakeem

Under Convention Against Torture 3 (1), the State (government) must not extradite someone to a country where there are substantial grounds to believe they will be tortured (non-refoulement) & under 3 (2) this must take into account the country's general record on this matter.

Bahrain's torture of Hakeem is well documented, supported and accepted. Bahrain's track record on torture and human rights abuses, particularly of sportspeople who speak out against rulers, is also well documented and accepted. #SaveHakeem

Thailand is a signatory to the CAT and under those provisions the AG should never have approved the extradition request for Hakeem. The CAT is specifically about State - government - responsibility.
#SaveHakeem

Further, the Thailand Extradition Act states that political character is not an offence that is grounds for extradition. Hakeem speaking out against rulers and Bahrain's human rights record is directly about political character.
#SaveHakeem

Therefore the offence is not one for which he can be extradited. Again, the AG should never have agreed to the extradition request.
#SaveHakeem

Paragraph 5 - Innocuous

Paragraphs 6, 7 & 8
#SaveHakeem

These directly contradict what is stated in earlier paragraphs about the process not being able to be interfered with.

But moreover: Bahrain has no claim to Hakeem whatsoever.
#SaveHakeem

Hakeem fled persecution in Bahrain and was given refugee status and permanent residency by Australia. Further, as per principles of non-refoulement outline above, Thailand has no business honouring Bahrain's position.
#SaveHakeem

INTERPOL's own policies state that warrants must not be issued for a refugee by the country from which they fled. The one for Hakeem was issued in contravention of that and withdrawn. Ergo, any arrest warrant issued by Bahrain for Hakeem has no validity (cont)

and the subsequent warrant given direct to Thailand should have been disregarded on the same basis.
#SaveHakeem

The question of Hakeem being an illegal alien could have been resolved quickly by verifying the validity of his Australian travel documents. Moreover, Hakeem applied for and received a Thai visa, and during this process any queries about his status would have been addressed.

It was therefore accepted he was traveling as an Australian.
#SaveHakeem

Bahrain is not a legitimate party to this matter and to validate their position is disingenuous and politically motivated.
#SaveHakeem

This is a politically motivated statement full of bureaucratic double-speak and propaganda that only serves to reinforce that Thailand are arbitrarily detaining Hakeem at Bahrain's behest. /END THREAD

#SaveHakeem

ADDITIONAL INFO - I will keep adding as more becomes available.

In December, the Thai Immigration Chief CONFIRMED that the Interpol Red Notice notification from Australia was irrelevant, and that they had been told by the Foreign Ministry to detain Hakeem at Bahrain's behest.

sbs.com.au/news/bahrain-r…

Bahrain knew Hakeem was traveling to Thailand. Hakeem applied for a Thai visa at the Thai consulate in Melbourne on 4 Nov, which was approved on 8 Nov. Bahrain applied for the red notice on 8 Nov. How did they know he was traveling? #SaveHakeem

Further, had the red notice existed before the visa application, Thailand would not have been able to approve Hakeem's visa. So Bahrain had specific information about the dates of his application and approval of the visa. How would they get that? #SaveHakeem

The issues about Australian travel docs and immigration issues are largely a red herring. This would have been addressed as part of the visa process, and had there been any issue, Hakeem could not have been issued a visa. #SaveHakeem

When Hakeem landed in Thailand on 27 Nov, Bahrain already had an extradition request ready. The red notice potentially provided enough confusion for Hakeem to be detained. However that was rescinded on 30 Nov. At this point, there was no legitimate reason to detain Hakeem.

Thailand were set to release Hakeem, as per an earlier tweet, telling him to book a flight home before Bahrain intervened. At this point he was transferred from police holding cells to Immigration Detention. #SaveHakeem

Consistent with the statement by the Immigration Chief, Thailand then set about giving Bahrain time to file an arrest warrant by continuing to hold Hakeem and seeking an extension of his (now unlawful) detention. #SaveHakeem

Arrest warrant appeared sometime between 3 Dec, when detention was extended and 7 Dec, when it was filed in local court by the AG. This means that Hakeem's detention was without cause, therefore unlawful, from 30 Nov to either 3 or 7 Dec (and after that but for different reasons)

Moreover, the arrest warrant only RETROSPECTIVELY supports the extradition request from 27 Nov and detention from 30 Nov. This is an appalling abuse of power and due process. #SaveHakeem

And here is the red notice, confirming its issuing on 8 Nov, the same day Hakeem received Thai visa. Also confirms Hakeem's identity docs with Bahrain had expired, which should have been a red flag to INTERPOL and any country checking it. #SaveHakeem

Further to the Immigration Chief's comments: Bahrain contacted Thailand enough time in advance to have Foreign Affairs order Immigration to detain Hakeem, and to present docs (old ID and others) & an extradition request.

At this point, Thailand already knew Hakeem was traveling on Aus travel docs due to the Visa application (in Melbourne). They had time to contact Aus in advance of Hakeem's arrival and sort out this mess (which also likely would have prevented Hakeem from ending up in Thailand).

If Thailand were genuinely interested in a diplomatic solution between Aus and Bahrain, as their statement claims, they would have done this. No need for them to be stuck, as they claim, at all. It would also appear to be appropriate diplomacy under the circumstances. #SaveHakeem

Please note this should say 30 Nov (typo - there is no 31 Nov). Hakeem was told to book his flight upon rescinding of the red notice on 30 Nov.

Please note a typo in an earlier tweet. It says Hakeem was told to book flight home on 31/11. Meant to read 30/11 (no 31/11). He was told to book flight home after the rescinding of the red notice, an acknowledgement from Thailand that they had no reason to detain him any more.