A 24-year-old Sri Lankan migrant worker, Anojan Sivarasa, is facing death in Saudi Arabia. An appellate court sentenced him to death over a Facebook comment. BBC reports the post was seen as blasphemous.
He was first handed five years in prison and a three million Saudi riyal fine under Saudi Arabia’s cybercrime law. But on September 17, things changed. Prosecutors appealed and asked for him to be tried under Sharia law. The appellate court then raised his sentence to death.
Humanists UK wants the British Government to step in fast. The group launched a petition on Wednesday to help save Sivarasa, who was convicted over an insulting comment about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad during an online religious argument. He had joined the argument after another user posted derogatory remarks about a Hindu deity.
He fired back with a comment insulting the Prophet Muhammad. He deleted it within minutes and later apologised in a video. But someone screenshotted it and reportedly sent it to his employer and Saudi authorities. He was arrested in July.
His family has not heard from him since September 28. Saudi authorities have not set an execution date.
Humanists UK Chief Executive, Andrew Copson, said the British Foreign Secretary should 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. And yet Anojan Sivarasa has been condemned to die because of a post made on Facebook,” Copson said.
He also urged the UK Government to push for the repeal of blasphemy laws in countries where they still exist.
Sri Lanka is also seeking a pardon. BBC reports that Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met the family in September. He promised his government would do everything to secure Sivarasa’s release. A four-member legal delegation has also been sent to Saudi Arabia to meet his lawyers.
Religious leaders and civil society groups in Sri Lanka have called for government action too. Buddhist and Hindu leaders submitted a memorandum to the presidential secretariat.
Sivarasa’s brother, Hamsidan, told the BBC 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. I do not even wish to mention who those people are,” Anojan’s brother told BBC Sinhala.
Saudi Arabia has faced criticism from human rights groups over harsh sentences for online speech. Executions for blasphemy are seen as relatively rare compared with those for drug crimes and murder.
