24-year-old Sri Lankan migrant worker Anojan Sivarasa has been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for a Facebook comment deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad. He was arrested in July after a heated argument on the social network.
The Al-Ahsa court had initially sentenced him to five years in prison and a fine of 3 million riyals. Following an appeal by the prosecution, the case was transferred to a Sharia trial, and on September 17, an appeals court commuted the sentence to death.
Sentence increased on appeal
According to the BBC, Sivarasa wrote the comment during an online dispute. He deleted the post and posted a video apology, but this did not stop the legal proceedings.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Wijitha Herath said that an appeal filed on Sivarasa's behalf to reduce the sentence had been rejected. At the same time, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking diplomatic and legal action in the case.
A four-member legal team from Sri Lanka is preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia. Representatives of the team are to work with local lawyers and look for opportunities to overturn or mitigate the sentence.
Mother asks for mercy
The man's family has not heard from him since September 28. His mother, Rasamanikam Yogalakshmi, made a public appeal to Saudi authorities:
The case has caused a stir in Sri Lanka, where hundreds of thousands of citizens live and work in Saudi Arabia. No date has been publicly announced for the execution. The next option for Sivarasa's defense is an appeal to the Supreme Court and diplomatic efforts for his pardon.
Sources: btvnovinite.bg, bbc.com