Saudi Arabia overturns death sentence for Sri Lankan man convicted of blasphemy

Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence of Anojan Sivarasa, a 27-year-old Sri Lankan worker convicted of blasphemy over a Facebook post, Colombo said on Wednesday. Sivarasa was sentenced to death last month after an appellate court increased his original five-year term.

What happened to Anojan Sivarasa in Saudi Arabia?

Sivarasa was arrested in July after complaints about a Facebook post he had deleted and apologized for. A court first gave him a five-year sentence. After he appealed, an appellate court raised the punishment to death. The Supreme Court has now set that sentence aside.

How did Sri Lanka respond to Saudi Arabia overturning the death sentence?

The Sri Lankan government welcomed the Saudi Supreme Court's decision. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake thanked Saudi authorities in a post on X. He called the outcome humane and just.

"I express my sincere appreciation to the Government of Saudi Arabia for this humane and just outcome," Dissanayake said. "I also thank the many Saudi Arabian and Sri Lankan diplomats, civil servants and legal teams for their dedicated efforts."

Who was Rizana Nafeek, the Sri Lankan maid executed in Saudi Arabia?

Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek was beheaded in 2013 after being convicted of murdering her employer's baby. She had arrived in Saudi Arabia in 2005, a week after allegedly travelling there at the age of 17.

The execution went ahead despite concerns about her trial and numerous appeals from Sri Lanka and the international community to spare her.