Saudi Arabia is facing calls to spare a 24-year-old Sri Lankan migrant worker sentenced to death over a Facebook comment deemed blasphemous against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.
Anojan Sivarasa was initially sentenced to five years in prison and fined 3m Saudi riyals, about $0.8m or £0.6m, by the Al-Ahsa Criminal Court.
But the case took a drastic turn on 17 September when Saudi prosecutors appealed for him to be prosecuted under Sharia law rather than the country’s cybercrime legislation.
An appellate court granted the request and increased his sentence to death.
The sentence has triggered widespread concern in Sri Lanka, with political parties, government bodies, religious leaders and civil society groups calling for clemency.
Anojan’s family has also appealed for his release.
“I plead for mercy for the wrongs committed by my son. Please forgive him and send him back to us.”
Speaking through tears, his mother, Rasamanickam Yogalakshmi, made a plea for the life of her eldest son.
The family has received no update on Anojan’s condition since 28 September.
The Sri Lankan government has instructed the family not to make further public statements while diplomatic efforts continue.
Saudi authorities have not announced an execution date and it remains unclear when the sentence could be carried out.
Saudi Arabia has previously carried out executions without informing families or foreign embassies beforehand, with relatives sometimes learning of an execution only after the sentence has been carried out.
Anojan was prosecuted following a social media dispute linked to an incident during a Hindu pilgrimage in Sri Lanka.
In late June, footage of a young Muslim man kicking a dog after an encounter with Hindu pilgrims was widely shared online, triggering religious arguments.
During the exchange, another user posted derogatory remarks about a Hindu deity. Anojan responded in Tamil with an insult directed at the Prophet Muhammad.
He quickly deleted the comment and posted an apology video. However, the original comment was captured in a screenshot and brought to the attention of his employer and Saudi authorities.
He was arrested in July.
His personal devices were seized and his social media accounts were deleted by Saudi officials.
“People in Saudi Arabia knew nothing about this matter. It was individuals in Sri Lanka who sent emails to the company where my brother worked. I do not even wish to mention who those people are,” Anojan’s brother, Hamsidan Sivarasa, told BBC Sinhala.
According to Hamsidan, the company employing Anojan notified Saudi authorities, who then opened a case against him.
An appeal submitted on Anojan’s behalf seeking a reduction in his original sentence was rejected, according to Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath.
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that it is taking all available steps to assist Anojan.
His family met President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat on 21 September.
The president assured them that the government would spare no effort to secure a general pardon and instructed diplomatic officials to engage with Saudi authorities.
The case has also drawn support from different religious communities.
Senior Buddhist leaders, including the Mahanayake Theros of the Ramanna Nikaya and the Amarapura Maha Nikaya, joined Hindu religious leaders in submitting a memorandum to the Presidential Secretariat calling for urgent government intervention.
A four-member Sri Lankan legal delegation is travelling to Saudi Arabia this week to meet Anojan’s local defence lawyers.
“There are two law firms in Saudi Arabia handling Anojan’s case. We are going there to meet the lawyers from these two firms, discuss the case and plan what can be done next,” said Upul Kumarapperuma, President’s Counsel and a member of the delegation, told BBC Sinhala.
Back in Sri Lanka, communication between Anojan and his family has stopped.
“My brother hasn’t called for two days,” Hamsidan said on 28 September. “We informed the embassy and asked officials to look into the matter and update us. They said they would check. We are still waiting, as we have not yet received a response.”
In Saudi prisons, inmates on death row typically lose access to personal mobile devices, while calls are facilitated through prison authorities.
Human rights organisations have repeatedly raised concerns about severe sentences imposed for online speech in Saudi Arabia.
In July 2023, Mohammed Al Ghamdi, a retired Saudi school teacher, was sentenced to death over comments he made on several social media platforms, according to the UN.
“The death sentence against Mohammad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, who has a total of just 10 followers on both of his anonymous Twitter accounts and is accused of nothing other than expressing his opinions on social media, is ludicrous,” Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said at the time.
Al Ghamdi’s death sentence was later overturned and he was sentenced to 30 years in prison, according to ALQST, an independent organisation that promotes human rights in Saudi Arabia.
More than 10 million foreign workers live in Saudi Arabia, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Rights groups say low-wage migrant workers face particular vulnerabilities within the Saudi legal system because of language barriers and limited access to legal representation.
Executions for blasphemy are relatively rare in Saudi Arabia compared with death sentences handed down for drug offences or murder.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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