A 24-year-old Sri Lankan migrant worker, Anojan Sivarasa, has been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia over a Facebook comment deemed blasphemous.
Sivarasa was initially sentenced to five years in prison and fined three million Saudi riyals under the country’s cybercrime law before prosecutors appealed the judgment and sought his trial under Sharia law.
The appellate court, on September 17, subsequently overturned the earlier sentence and imposed the death penalty.
According to the BBC, Sivarasa became involved in an online religious argument after another social media user allegedly made derogatory remarks about a Hindu deity.
Sivarasa responded by posting an insulting comment about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.
He reportedly deleted the comment within minutes and later apologised in a video.
However, the comment had already been screenshotted and allegedly forwarded to his employer and Saudi authorities, leading to his arrest in July.
His family has reportedly not heard from him since September 28, while Saudi authorities have yet to announce a date for his execution.
The development has triggered calls for intervention, with Humanists UK launching a petition urging the British Government to pressure Saudi authorities to overturn the death sentence.
The organisation’s Chief Executive, Andrew Copson, called on the British Foreign Secretary to raise Sivarasa’s case with Saudi authorities at the highest level.
Copson said no one should face execution for expressing an opinion about religion, while urging the UK Government to use its influence to advocate the repeal of blasphemy laws in countries where they remain in force.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan government is also seeking a pardon for Sivarasa. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake reportedly met the family in September and assured them that his administration would make efforts to secure his release.
The Sri Lankan government has also dispatched a four-member legal delegation to Saudi Arabia to meet lawyers handling the case.
Religious leaders and civil society organisations in Sri Lanka have joined calls for government intervention, with Buddhist and Hindu leaders submitting a memorandum to the presidential secretariat.
Sivarasa’s brother, Hamsidan, told the BBC that the family contacted the Sri Lankan embassy after communication with Anojan stopped.
Saudi Arabia has previously faced criticism from human rights groups over harsh punishments for online speech.
However, executions for blasphemy are considered relatively uncommon compared with capital offences such as drug-related crimes and murder.