Sri Lanka President to seek Saudi clemency for Tamil youth in blasphemy case
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Monday said he would personally seek clemency from the Saudi ruler for a Sri Lankan youth whose family says he has been sentenced to death in the kingdom over a social media post allegedly amounting to blasphemy.
The case concerns Anojan Sivarasa, a member of Sri Lanka's minority Tamil community, who travelled to Saudi Arabia for work about nine months ago. While his family has said he was given the death sentence over content allegedly deemed insulting to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry has not formally confirmed the reported sentence.
Dissanayake made the pledge after meeting Sivarasa's parents at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, local media reported. He told them that legal and diplomatic channels would be explored to secure a pardon for their son.
In a statement on Friday, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said Sivarasa was undergoing judicial proceedings in Saudi Arabia and that it was closely monitoring the case through the Sri Lankan embassy in Riyadh. The ministry said it remained engaged with Saudi authorities through diplomatic channels and was taking appropriate steps to safeguard Sivarasa's interests and provide him with all possible assistance.
Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa also met Sivarasa's family on Monday. The development came two days after Tamil Progressive Alliance leader Mano Ganesan urged Dissanayake to seek the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the case, citing Modi's ties with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
According to a Daily Mirror report, Sivarasa was initially sentenced to five years in prison and fined three million Saudi riyals after being found guilty of posting social media content deemed insulting to a religion. The report said Sivarasa's lawyer later verbally informed the Sri Lankan embassy in Riyadh that the sentence had reportedly been increased to capital punishment. However, the embassy is awaiting the formal written judgment from Saudi judicial authorities before confirming the development.
The case has drawn political attention in Sri Lanka, with the President promising to seek clemency, the Foreign Ministry continuing diplomatic engagement, and the reported death sentence still awaiting formal confirmation from Saudi authorities.
