Sri Lankan Migrant Worker Faces Saudi Death Sentence Over Facebook Blasphemy Comment
A Sri Lankan migrant worker, Anojan Sivarasa, has been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for a Facebook post deemed blasphemous, sparking family pleas and diplomatic interventions.
Anojan Sivarasa, a Sri Lankan migrant worker in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to death after a Saudi appellate court reclassified his case under Sharia law for a Facebook comment that insulted the Prophet Muhammad. The incident stemmed from an online argument triggered by a video of a Muslim man kicking a dog during a Hindu pilgrimage, which led Anojan to post a derogatory remark in Tamil that he later deleted and apologized for.
Initially given five years in prison and a fine of 3 million Saudi riyals, his sentence was escalated on 17 September when prosecutors sought Sharia jurisdiction. His mother, Rasamanickam Yogalakshmi, has appealed for mercy, while Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath have instructed diplomatic channels to seek a pardon. Senior Buddhist and Hindu leaders submitted a memorandum urging state intervention, and a four-member Sri Lankan legal team is traveling to Saudi Arabia to meet his local defence lawyers. The family has lost contact with Anojan, and human-rights groups warn that foreign workers in Saudi Arabia face heightened vulnerability under such legal processes.
Why it matters
The case highlights the severe penalties for online speech in Saudi Arabia and the diplomatic challenges faced by migrant workers' home countries.
How the sides frame it
HIGH AGREEMENTBoth camps convey the same factual narrative of the death sentence, but centrist coverage highlights diplomatic appeals and the victim’s family pleas, while right-leaning coverage stresses the blasphemy element and the legal shift to Sharia.
CENTER
Centrist coverage frames the story as a legal case intertwined with diplomatic efforts and family appeals for mercy.
RIGHT
Right-leaning coverage frames the story as a blasphemy-driven death-penalty case resulting from a Facebook comment.
The right emphasises
- the Facebook comment was judged blasphemous toward Islam and the Prophet Muhammad
- prosecutors appealed to have the case tried under Sharia law, leading to the death sentence
- a screenshot of the original comment was sent to the employer and Saudi authorities
In this story
