Saudi Arabia has sentenced a foreign worker to death over a Facebook post. Why isn’t there a bigger outcry?
Por Alisha Rahaman Sarkar — – World RSS Feed
in focus Saudi Arabia has sentenced a foreign worker to death over a Facebook post. Why isn’t there a bigger outcry?
Sri Lanka’s government has sent a legal team to appeal directly to the authorities in Saudi Arabia. But Sri Lankan MPs tell Alisha Rahaman Sarkar they are surprised by the lack of international attention on the case
Wednesday 07 October 2026 13:46 BST
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Sri Lanka is calling for the international community to help save a young man from execution in Saudi Arabia, where he faces the death penalty for insulting the Prophet Muhammad on social media.
Anojan Sivarasa, 24, a migrant worker from Kalmunai in the Eastern Province, was sentenced to death last month for posting a blasphemous comment on Facebook.
Anojan had been in Saudi Arabia for less than a year when he was arrested on 2 July. His ordeal began with an online debate caused by a viral video showing a man kicking a stray dog that had accompanied some Hindu pilgrims.
He made remarks insulting Prophet Muhammad in response to a derogatory comment about a Hindu deity. Anojan promptly deleted his Facebook post and posted an apology video, but screenshots were sent to his employer and passed on to Saudi authorities.
The Al-Ahsa Criminal Court initially sentenced him to five years in prison and fined him 3m Saudi riyals, about £600,000, under the country’s cybercrime law.
The court also rejected an appeal filed on his behalf to reduce the sentence.
But on 17 September, prosecutors filed their own appeal for Anojan to be tried under Sharia law. The court granted their request, leading to Anojan being handed the death penalty for blasphemy.
Colombo has sent a four-member legal team to Riyadh to finalise an appeal against the death sentence.
Earlier, on 24 September, six lawmakers from minority Tamil-speaking political parties wrote to Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud seeking clemency for Anojan, saying it “was not his character to have intentionally committed it expecting to disrespect or offend Islam”.
One of the lawmakers said Colombo was asking Riyadh to overturn the death penalty on humanitarian grounds.
“Any person who goes to another country for employment or for temporary migration should respect the laws and the culture of that country,” Jeevan Thondaman told The Independent. “At the same time, does the punishment equate to the offence? I don’t personally think so. I don’t believe a person should be put to death for blasphemy.”
He said the Sri Lankan government should call on Saudi Arabia’s allies such as India and the US to help save the life of its citizen.
“I believe it’s a Sri Lankan issue,” he said. “Which is also an issue of human rights.”
Several religious organisations have asked the government to make greater efforts to save Anojan, and civil society groups have launched petitions against his sentence.
Saudi officials have not yet announced a timeline for his execution.
Foreign minister Vijitha Herath told parliament on Wednesday that Sri Lankan officials were now working with two legal teams in Saudi Arabia to overturn the death penalty. They were expected to file the appeal by Thursday.
The minister said a parliamentary delegation was also expected to travel to Riyadh with a clemency appeal from president Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
open image in galleryAnojan’s family said they had not received any update about their son since 28 September.
“I plead for mercy for the wrongs committed by my son,” his mother, Rasamanickam Yogalakshmi, was quoted as saying by the BBC. “Please forgive him and send him back to us.”
Mr Herath said Anojan was moved to another cell at the Dammam prison this week after suffering bruises from an altercation with a fellow inmate.
The government assured his family that Colombo would spare no effort to obtain a pardon following their meeting with president Dissanayake on 21 September. It offered to cover the legal fees as well.
Mano Ganesan, an opposition lawmaker, urged the president to take help from India’s Narendra Modi, who he claimed enjoyed close ties with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. “I appeal to you to ask PM Modi to personally intervene with Crown Prince Salman and seek a humanitarian resolution for Anojan,” he said in a social media post last month.
Anojan’s was a rare case of an online remark leading to a death sentence, Mr Thondaman argued, yet it has so far received little international attention or intervention, including from major human rights groups.
“There are many countries which claim they speak on humanitarian grounds. But because a Sri Lankan is on death row in Saudi, quite a few people keep silent. When in reality, they could make a difference,” he said.
“But from what I know, the Sri Lankan government is firing all guns. And we are hoping that they will be able to get some sort of solution for this. If they are not able to extradite him, at least we should be able to reverse that sentence.”
Sri Lankans make up one of the largest migrant groups in Saudi Arabia, with over 245,000 living and working in the country, according to estimates from the Sri Lankan embassy in Riyadh.
In the past, human rights organisations have repeatedly expressed concern over the harsh sentences imposed for online speech in Saudi Arabia, which is one of the world’s top executioners, according to Amnesty International.
Saudi Arabia carried out at least 356 executions in 2025, the highest on record and up from 345 in 2024.
Retired Saudi teacher Mohammed Al Ghamdi was sentenced to death in 2023 for posting comments on multiple social media platforms. The ruling was overturned, however, and he was sentenced to 30 years in prison instead, according to human rights groups.
The Independent contacted the Saudi Arabian foreign ministry for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
More about
Sri LankaProphet MuhammadAnura Kumara DissanayakeMohammed bin SalmanNarendra ModiSaudi Arabia
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