Sakchai Lalit/Associated Press
A soccer player who was jailed in Thailand and faced being sent back to his native Bahrain, where he said he would be imprisoned and tortured, was released Monday after Thai prosecutors dropped the extradition case against him.
The player, Hakeem al-Araibi, is expected to return soon to Australia, where he has refugee status.
Mr. al-Araibi, 25, who had been a star defender for the Bahrain national soccer team, fled the small Gulf nation in 2011 during a crackdown on Arab Spring protesters. He said he had been tortured by government security forces.