Saudi Arabia overturns death sentence for Sri Lankan worker

The Saudi Arabian Supreme Court has set aside the death sentence of Anojan Sivarasa, a 24-year-old Sri Lankan migrant worker. Sivarasa had been sentenced to death following a Facebook comment deemed blasphemous toward the Prophet Muhammad.

The legal proceedings began after Sivarasa, an employee in the construction sector, posted a comment in Tamil on a video. Although he deleted the message and posted an apology, authorities arrested him in Dammam in July 2026. An initial sentence of five years in prison and a fine of three million riyals was later upgraded to the death penalty by the Eastern Province Court of Appeal.

The reprieve for Sivarasa follows diplomatic and judicial mobilization by the Sri Lankan government. While the death sentence was overturned, the article notes that this does not equate to his immediate release.