Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who has refugee status in Australia, will spend at least another two months in detention after appearing in shackles in a Thai court to refuse extradition to his homeland.
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His lawyers on Monday were given until April 5 to submit documents relating to the extradition case, and a preliminary hearing was set for April 22.
Australia is leading international efforts to pressure Thailand's prime minister to free the 25-year-old who says he faces torture and possible death if he's sent to Bahrain.
He appeared on Monday in the Bangkok Criminal Court, shackled and in a beige prison uniform and formally refused Bahrain's request to be returned to his homeland.
Al-Araibi was sentenced to 10 years' jail in absentia over the firebombing of a police station in Bahrain in November 2012. He denies the charges and says he was playing in a televised match when the attack happened.
Australia's ambassador-designate Allan McKinnon attended the hearing with more than a dozen diplomatic staff from other countries who support al-Araibi's immediate release.
McKinnon said the prosecutor had confirmed that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had the executive powers to intervene on al-Araibi's behalf.
"We are asking Prime Minister Prayut to allow Hakeem al-Araibi to return to Australia, he is a refugee, allow him to return to Australia to his friends and his family," he told reporters.
When asked if Australia was looking at sanctions he said: "We are considering anything that would rapidly move Hakeem al-Araibi out of detention."
Former Socceroo captain Graig Foster, who has rallied international support for al-Araibi's cause, including from Fifa and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said Bahrain and Thailand should be threatened with immediate expulsion from world sport.
"Whilst we have a string of diplomatic representation in the court room it's clearly having little effect on Thailand," Foster told AAP.
"What's happened today, particularly him being brought in in shackles, is going to really drive the football community to put massive pressure on them," Foster said.
Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) also called on Fifa, the Asian Football Confederation and the IOC to consider sporting sanctions against Thailand and Bahrain after Monday's court ruling.
"Hakeem's detention is a flagrant breach of his internationally accepted human rights as an Australian permanent resident and refugee. He is an innocent young man being held illegally - in shackles - in a foreign country," said PFA Chief Executive John Didulica.
Federico Addiechi, head of sustainability and diversity at Fifa, said football's governing body had stopped short of backing sporting sanctions against Bahrain and Thailand, but supported al-Araibi.
"There's no legal grounds for us to intervene in such a way," he said outside the court.
Addiechi said a high-level Fifa team would soon try and meet with Thai authorities.
Al-Araibi was taken into custody on November 27 by Thai Immigration officers acting on an Interpol Red Notice requested by Bahrain, even though it is against the agency's policy of non-refoulement of refugees.
Al-Araibi, who plays for the semi-professional team Pascoe Vale FC in Melbourne, was granted refugee status and protection by Australia after fleeing Bahrain in 2014. He was travelling to Thailand for a belated honeymoon.
Australian Associated Press
