Sri Lanka Moves to Save Anojan Sivarasa After Saudi Sentence

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Attorney General's Department says steps will be taken to file an appeal before the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia within the stipulated 30-day period in an effort to seek relief from the death sentence imposed on Sri Lankan national Anojan Sivarasa by a Saudi court.

The matter was discussed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake along with the Attorney General and other institutional heads.

The parents of Anojan Sivarasa, who has been sentenced to death by a Saudi Arabian court, met President Anura Kumara Dissanayake this morning.

During the meeting, they briefed the President on the situation and appealed for urgent intervention to help save their son's life.

Responding to their request, President Dissanayake reportedly stated that the Government is making every possible effort to secure clemency for Anojan and will intervene both through legal avenues and diplomatic channels.

The President also stated that steps would be taken to formally seek a pardon through diplomatic channels from the King of Saudi Arabia.

Minister Vijitha Herath noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Sri Lankan Embassy in Saudi Arabia, has been continuously monitoring the matter and engaging with Saudi authorities through diplomatic channels to pursue the necessary action.

Anojan Sivarasa was initially sentenced by the Al-Ahsa Criminal Court in Saudi Arabia to five years' imprisonment and fined three million Saudi Riyals in connection with a statement allegedly made on social media.

Subsequently, Anojan's side lodged an appeal against the sentence, while a separate application challenging that appeal was also submitted before the court.

The death sentence was ultimately imposed following the determination of those appeal proceedings.

Meanwhile, relatives of Anojan Sivarasa today visited the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Colombo and submitted an appeal seeking relief for their family member.