Former FM Ali Sabry Urges Saudi Arabia to Grant Clemency to Sri Lankan National Anojan Sivarasa

A Sri Lankan Tamil migrant worker, Sivarasa Anojan, is facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia after an appeal against a five-year prison sentence over a Facebook post deemed insulting to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

Former Foreign Minister Ali Sabry has urged Saudi Arabian authorities to grant clemency to Sri Lankan national Anojan Sivarasa following reports that his five-year prison sentence has been escalated to a death sentence over an offensive social media comment.

Expressing deep concern over the reported development, Sabry said Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry had not confirmed the death sentence and that the formal written judgment was still awaited.

“Respect for Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and legal system does not require silence in the face of disproportionate punishment,” Sabry said.

He described a five-year prison sentence for an offensive social media comment as excessive, adding that imposing the death penalty for such an act would be “grossly disproportionate, inhumane, and unacceptable.”

Sabry said reports that Sivarasa had removed the comment within minutes and issued a public video apology deserved serious consideration.

“An offensive remark should not extinguish a person’s opportunity to repent, learn, and rebuild his life,” he said.

Referring to his Islamic faith, Sabry emphasized the importance of mercy and compassion in responding to human failings.

The former foreign minister called on the Sri Lankan government to secure effective legal assistance for Sivarasa and pursue urgent diplomatic intervention at the highest level.

“I respectfully urge the Saudi authorities to show mercy and grant Anojan clemency,” Sabry said.

“Justice must leave room for compassion. Anojan deserves the chance to return to his family and rebuild his life.”

The reported death sentence remains unconfirmed by Sri Lankan authorities, pending the formal written judgment.

A social-media dispute that spiralled into a criminal case

The case reportedly began with a highly emotional dispute in Kalmunai, in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province, surrounding the Kataragama Pada Yatra pilgrimage.

According to accounts cited by Sri Lankan politicians and activists, Hindu devotees undertaking the pilgrimage were accompanied by a stray dog known as “Subramaniyam.” The animal was allegedly kicked or assaulted by a Muslim youth, triggering anger and heated debate on social media. Anojan became involved in the online exchanges and allegedly posted a comment directed at the Prophet Muhammad that Saudi authorities subsequently treated as religiously offensive.

Reports say the Facebook post was subsequently deleted and that Anojan publicly apologized for the remarks. His supporters have maintained that the comment was made in the heat of an emotionally charged online dispute rather than as part of a deliberate campaign against Islam.

But screenshots of the original post had reportedly circulated before it was removed. Complaints were subsequently made to Saudi authorities and, according to reports, to his employer. Anojan was then arrested in Saudi Arabia.

Five years in prison and SAR 3 million fine

The first court ruling came from the Criminal Court in Al-Ahsa. According to a July 31 letter from Sri Lanka’s Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Ministry cited by Newswire, Anojan was sentenced to:

Five years’ imprisonment
A SAR 3 million fine
Confiscation of the electronic device involved in the case
Closure of the social media account connected to the offense

The ministry indicated that an appeal could be filed within 30 days. It also reported that legal advice obtained by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh assessed the prospects of a successful appeal or sentence reduction as “extremely low.”

For Anojan’s family, the financial burden was enormous. His parents said they were struggling to meet both the court-imposed fine and the legal expenses required to challenge the conviction. They subsequently appealed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for assistance and humanitarian intervention.

Appeal brings an even more serious outcome

Jaffna Monitor reported on September 17 that, according to Sri Lankan activist Rajkumar Rajeevkanth, the appeal had resulted in a death sentence. The report said the activist had confirmed the development after following the case.

Newswire on September 18 also reported that Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam had called for immediate action to save Anojan’s life. The MP said he planned to raise the matter in Parliament and questioned aspects of the handling of the appeal.

Another Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, has also called for urgent legal and diplomatic intervention, urging the Sri Lankan government to engage Saudi authorities over the reported death sentence.

Questions over the appeal process

The case has also opened a second front in Colombo over how the appeal was handled.

According to MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam’s account, the family pursued the appeal following advice from Sri Lanka’s Deputy Foreign Minister Arun Hemachandra, despite the Sri Lankan Embassy’s earlier assessment that the prospects of success were “extremely low.” Rasamanickam said the family had paid approximately Rs. 1.89 million in legal fees into an account associated with the Foreign Ministry secretary after being instructed to do so.

The MP has called for experienced independent legal representation and immediate use of every remaining legal and diplomatic avenue.

Source: newswire.lk, Staff; organiser.org, Staff, September 18, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

Death Penalty News For a World without the Death Penalty

Florida to execute William Thompson after nearly 48 years on death row

On Sept. 11, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a death warrant for William Thompson, convicted of the 1976 kidnapping, rape, and murder of 23-year-old Sally Ivester. Thompson, now 74, and another man were staying in a Miami Beach hotel room with Ivester and another woman, according to court records. After Ivester was unable to get money from her mother, the men beat and tortured her, prosecutors said. She died from internal bleeding and multiple injuries. Thompson was convicted in 1978 of kidnapping, rape, and first-degree murder.

Afghanistan | Signs that horrific brutality is set to return

Kneeling next to a ditch, deep in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan, a 22-year-old woman draws her last breath in a 'desert court' before she is shot in the back with an AK-47. Her executioner? Likely her hardline militant husband, in what the Taliban consider an 'honour killing'. It took less than an hour to decide Najiba had been adulterous – although it has been suggested this accusation was fabricated to protect her husband's reputation. Adultery is a crime that deserves capital punishment under the Taliban's strict interpretation of Sharia law. Fourteen years on from her death, little is known about her story, like many women slowly being erased from the fabric of Afghan society.

Singapore | Ministry of Home Affairs refutes claims that death penalty was discussed during visit by Israel's security ministry

The Ministry of Home Affairs says discussions with the Israeli government involved the sharing of best practices in emergency response, crime prevention, and forensics. Issues relating to the death penalty “were never part of the meeting and were not discussed." SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday (Sep 11) refuted claims by an Israeli media outlet that the death penalty was discussed during a visit by an Israeli delegation in May. The Haaretz newspaper reported on Sep 7 that a delegation comprising representatives from the Israel Prison Service and National Security Ministry made a “secret visit” to Singapore that month.

Florida executes Daniel Owen Conahan Jr.

In Florida’s 15th execution this year, man put to death for killing linked to ‘Hog Trail Murders’ A Florida man convicted in one of a series of suspected killings that became known as the “Hog Trail Murders” in the 1990s was put to death Thursday, becoming the state’s 15th person executed this year. Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. after receiving a 3-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He had been sentenced to die for the 1996 kidnapping and strangling of Richard Allen Montgomery, whose mutilated body was found in a wooded southwest Florida area where authorities found the remains of at least 6 people over a 3-year span.

Alabama | Lethal injection for double murderer set for Thursday after court blocked nitrogen hypoxia execution in June

Alabama plans to execute Jeffery Lee on Thursday via lethal injection after a down-to-the-wire decision by the federal courts halted his death by nitrogen hypoxia in June. In response, Gov. Kay Ivey set the 30-hour window for the execution to be carried out by lethal injection beginning at 12 a.m. on Thursday, September 17, and expiring at 6 a.m. on Friday, September 18. Barring any further court action, the execution will take place at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.

California | He spent 19 years on death row. His conversion to Judaism helped him endure

Johnny Morales struggled to find sleep. He dozed off for a few moments, but officers came to his death row cell and woke him a little after midnight. They needed to inventory and box up his belongings. He was leaving San Quentin. Hands cuffed behind his back, he walked across the empty upper yard in the dim gray hours before daylight. An officer walked alongside him step for step, black latex-gloved fingers holding onto Morales’s arm. For almost 20 years, Morales could only experience the world outside his 4-by-11 foot cell in the condemned housing unit like this—chained and escorted by officers. Security protocols required all death row residents be handcuffed or shackled any time they were out in open space with staff.

California | Becerra vows to extend moratorium despite past support for capital punishment

SACRAMENTO—Democrat Xavier Becerra defended the death penalty while serving as California’s attorney general, a punishment his office actively sought in the case of a gunman convicted of an Orange County mass shooting, but as the front-running candidate for governor, he has vowed to block executions if elected in November. Becerra said he will extend the blanket reprieve for all death row inmates that Gov. Gavin Newsom enacted by executive order in 2019, saying he supported “moving our state away from a costly, flawed system that disproportionately impacts Black and brown communities and too often gets it wrong.”

He Spent 27 Years on Death Row as a Wrongfully Convicted Man. What Comes Next?

23-hour solitary confinement. 115-degree heat. Jimmie Duncan is haunted by the decades he spent in Louisiana’s Angola Prison—and how, even after being released, he still isn’t truly free. Jimmie “Chris” Duncan wiped the sweat off his forehead as he assessed his temporary home from the parking lot of a rundown motel in central Louisiana. Sure, there’s drug dealing and prostitution, he said on a recent summer afternoon. And he suspected his neighbors were cooking meth on a floor below the room he paid $350 a week to rent.

Iran | Afghan Citizen Executed in Wheelchair Due to Severe Mobility Disability

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Iranian authorities have reportedly executed an Afghan citizen, identified as Valijan Nourzay, at the central prison in Rafsanjan, according to the human rights organization Hengaw. Hengaw said in a statement on Sunday, September 6, that Nourzay was executed early Wednesday last week at Rafsanjan Central Prison. According to the organization, Nourzay had a severe mobility disability and was executed while in a wheelchair. Hengaw, citing informed sources, reported that Nourzay had been pursued by Iranian authorities three years ago over an alleged murder. He was reportedly seriously wounded after Iranian security forces opened fire on him in Rafsanjan before being arrested and later sentenced to death.

Egypt TV presenter and 11 others sentenced to death in major drugs case

Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 others have been sentenced to death by hanging after being convicted of drug trafficking and rape, while nine defendants received life sentences and seven were acquitted. Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa, 39, has been sentenced to death by hanging along with 11 other defendants after being found guilty in a drugs case involving a criminal gang accused of importing ingredients used to manufacture narcotics for sale.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog