Sri Lankan Worker Faces Death Sentence in Saudi Arabia Over Deleted Facebook Comment

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A 24-year-old Sri Lankan migrant worker has been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia over a Facebook comment he posted during an online religious argument, a case that has sparked international condemnation and urgent diplomatic efforts to save his life.

Anojan Sivarasa, a mechanical engineer from eastern Sri Lanka, was arrested in July after Saudi authorities were alerted to a social media post deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad.

The case began with an unlikely dispute involving a dog.

Earlier this year, a video circulated in Sri Lanka showing a Muslim man kicking a dog that had become well known among Hindu pilgrims traveling to the Kathirkamam Murugan temple. The footage ignited fierce online arguments between Hindu and Muslim social media users.

According to reports, another user posted derogatory remarks about the Hindu deity Lord Shiva. Sivarasa responded with a comment directed at the Prophet Muhammad.

Sivarasa later told a Saudi court that he deleted the post within minutes and uploaded a video apologizing for what he had written. But screenshots of the comment had already been captured and circulated.

Those screenshots were reportedly translated into Arabic and sent to Sivarasa’s employer in Saudi Arabia, which in turn brought the matter to the attention of authorities.

Saudi investigators arrested Sivarasa and seized his electronic devices.

An Al-Ahsa court initially convicted him under the kingdom’s cybercrime law, sentencing him to five years in prison and imposing a fine of 3 million Saudi riyals, equivalent to roughly $800,000.

The case then took a dramatic turn.

Prosecutors appealed the ruling and asked that Sivarasa be tried under Sharia law instead. On Sept. 17, an appeals court replaced the prison sentence with a death sentence.

Saudi authorities have not announced an execution date.

The case has triggered alarm among human rights organizations, which argue that no person should face execution over comments made online.

Amnesty International condemned the ruling and called for Sivarasa’s immediate release, describing the death sentence as a chilling attack on freedom of expression. Humanists UK also urged British officials and international leaders to pressure Saudi Arabia to overturn the decision.

The case has become a national issue in Sri Lanka, where political leaders, religious organizations and civil society groups have demanded intervention.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met with Sivarasa’s family and pledged government support. A legal delegation has traveled to Saudi Arabia to coordinate with lawyers representing him.

Meanwhile, the family says it has not heard directly from Sivarasa since late September.

His mother has publicly appealed for mercy, pleading with Saudi authorities to forgive her son’s actions and allow him to return home.

The exact wording of Sivarasa’s Facebook comment has not been published by most mainstream news organizations. Reports consistently describe it as insulting to the Prophet Muhammad, and Sivarasa has acknowledged making the remark during a heated online argument before deleting it and apologizing.

What started as a social media fight thousands of miles away from Saudi Arabia has now become an international human rights dispute, with the fate of a young engineer resting on whether the kingdom’s courts or rulers choose to grant him clemency.