A 24-year-old man has been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia over a comment he made on Facebook. Anojan Sivarasa, a Sri Lankan national working in Saudi Arabia, was convicted of blasphemy after becoming involved in a Facebook dispute over footage showing a dog being kicked. The video, which circulated widely online in June, showed a young Muslim man kicking a dog which had been following Hindu pilgrims in Sri Lanka. A row then broke out in the comments, where another Facebook user made derogatory remarks about a Hindu deity. Anojan responded in Tamil with an insulting comment about the Prophet Muhammad. He soon removed the comment and posted a video apologising for what he had said.
However, screenshots of the post had already been taken and were sent to his employer, who alerted the Saudi authorities.
Anojan was arrested in July and authorities seized his digital devices and deleted his social media accounts.
His brother, Hamsidan Sivarasa, said: “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.”
The case has prompted widespread outrage in Sri Lanka, where petitions have called for Anojan to be shown mercy. He was initially given a five-year prison sentence and fined three million Saudi riyals, equivalent to around £600,000.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said an attempt to have the sentence reduced on appeal was rejected by the Saudi authorities. Saudi prosecutors subsequently sought to have Anojan prosecuted under Sharia law. The move was granted and his punishment was increased to the death penalty.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (fourth from right) recently met Anojan’s family (Image: anurakumaraofficial/Instagram)
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it is taking all available steps to help Anojan, while religious leaders from different faiths have joined calls for the government to secure his release.
His parents have also met Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who promised that diplomatic channels were being used in efforts to obtain a pardon.
A legal delegation from Sri Lanka is travelling to Saudi Arabia this week to meet with Anojan’s Saudi defence lawyers.
But his family have raised concerns after losing contact with him.
Hamsidan told the BBC on September 28: “My brother hasn’t called for two days.
“We informed the embassy and asked officials to look into the matter and update us. They said they would check. We are still waiting, as we have not yet received a response.”
Anojan’s mother, Rasamanickam Yogalakshmi, has also made an emotional appeal for mercy.
She said: “I plead for mercy for the wrongs committed by my son. Please forgive him and send him back to us.”
Saudi authorities have not said when Anojan’s execution is expected to take place.
The country has previously informed families or foreign embassies of executions only after they have been carried out.