A 24-year-old Sri Lankan migrant worker, Anojan Sivarasa, is facing execution in Saudi Arabia after an appellate court reportedly sentenced him to death over a Facebook comment considered blasphemous.
According to the BBC, Sivarasa was initially sentenced to five years in prison and fined three million Saudi riyals under Saudi Arabia’s cybercrime law.
However, his case took a dramatic turn on September 17 after prosecutors appealed the ruling and sought to have him tried under Sharia law. The appellate court subsequently increased his sentence to death.
Sivarasa was reportedly convicted after posting an insulting comment about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad during a religious argument on social media.
The BBC reports that the incident began after another social media user allegedly made derogatory remarks about a Hindu deity. Sivarasa responded with a comment insulting the Prophet Muhammad but deleted it within minutes.
He later apologised in a video, but the comment had reportedly been screenshotted and sent to his employer and Saudi authorities.
He was subsequently arrested in July.
Humanists UK has launched a petition calling on the British Government to urgently intervene and help prevent Sivarasa’s execution.
The organisation’s Chief Executive, Andrew Copson, urged the British Foreign Secretary to raise the case with Saudi authorities at the highest level.
“Everyone has the right to speak freely about religion, and no one should ever face punishment for doing so, much less be put to death,” Copson said.
He also called on the UK Government to use its diplomatic influence to push for the repeal of blasphemy laws in countries where they remain in force.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan government is also seeking a pardon for Sivarasa.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake reportedly met with Sivarasa’s family in September and assured them that his administration would make efforts to secure his release.
The Sri Lankan government has also reportedly sent a four-member legal delegation to Saudi Arabia to meet the lawyers handling the case.
Religious leaders and civil society organisations in Sri Lanka have equally called for intervention, with Buddhist and Hindu leaders submitting a memorandum to the presidential secretariat.
Sivarasa’s family said they lost contact with him on September 28.
His brother, Hamsidan, previously told the BBC that the family contacted the Sri Lankan embassy after communication with Anojan stopped.
“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,” he said.
Saudi Arabia has previously faced criticism from human rights organisations over severe punishments for online speech. However, executions for blasphemy are reportedly relatively rare compared with executions for offences such as murder and drug-related crimes.
No execution date has been announced for Sivarasa, according to the report.
