A comment posted on Facebook could cost a Sri Lankan migrant worker his life. Anojan Sivarasa has been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia after a comment he made on the social media platform was deemed blasphemous and insulting to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.
The case has sparked strong reactions in Sri Lanka, where authorities have launched a legal and diplomatic battle to avoid his execution.
Sivarasa was initially sentenced by the Al-Ahsa Criminal Court to five years in prison and a fine of 3 million Saudi riyals. The prosecution appealed the decision and requested a harsher sentence. On appeal, the case took a dramatic turn: the prison sentence was changed to the death penalty.
The case has also been confirmed by Sri Lankan authorities. A team of four lawyers has been hired to defend Sivarasa and has traveled to Saudi Arabia to prepare an appeal of the decision to the Saudi Supreme Court.
In parallel with the legal battle, Colombo is also pursuing diplomatic channels. Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is preparing a request for clemency to the King of Saudi Arabia in an attempt to prevent the execution.
The case has also mobilized political parties, state institutions and civil society organizations in Sri Lanka, which have demanded urgent intervention by the authorities to rescue the migrant worker.
Anojan Sivarasa's fate now depends on two paths: the outcome of the appeal before Saudi justice and the possibility of an intervention for pardon by the highest authorities of the Kingdom.
A comment written on Facebook has thus become a matter of life and death for the Sri Lankan immigrant.
