Sri Lankan Worker Sentenced to Death

A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced Sri Lankan migrant worker Sivarasa Anojan to death. The Al-Ahsa Criminal Court initially convicted Anojan in July of insulting the Islamic Prophet Muhammad in a Facebook post.

Anojan had published a video statement expressing his regret and quickly deleted the first post. He was initially sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of three million Saudi Riyals.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said the Saudi Court of Appeal increased Anojan’s sentence to death on September 21. Anojan had appealed for his sentence to be reduced, but the court accepted a separate appeal by the state prosecutor for it to be increased to death.

Anojan, from Narpittimunai in Kalmunai, had been working in Saudi Arabia for less than a year. He was planning to get married this year. His younger brother Sivarajah Remsidhan said Anojan travelled to Saudi Arabia to work as a technical engineer at a battery factory.

Remsidhan said he was forced to leave his job to devote his time to trying to secure his brother’s release. Hundreds of people have protested in Sri Lanka’s eastern and northern provinces, calling for the government to intervene to secure Anojan’s immediate release.

Anojan’s relatives submitted an appeal to the Saudi Embassy in Colombo with the assistance of Amnesty International. The sentence has provoked growing public opposition in Sri Lanka.

The Saudi Arabian monarchy has been criticized for its use of Sharia law to justify the sentence. The law is used to terrorise and suppress any opposition to conditions facing workers, including heavily exploited migrants.