Saudi Arabia Sentences Sri Lankan Worker to Death Over Deleted Facebook Comment About Prophet Muhammad

A 24-year-old Sri Lankan migrant worker faces a death sentence in Saudi Arabia over a Facebook comment about the Prophet Muhammad that he deleted shortly after posting it.

Sivarasa Anojan was initially jailed for five years and fined three million riyals, but an appeals court imposed the death penalty on 17 September 2026 after Saudi prosecutors sought to have the case dealt with under Sharia rather than the kingdom's cybercrime law.

A four-member Sri Lankan legal team is now in Saudi Arabia preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court. His family says it has received no update from him since 28 September.

A Comment in Tamil, Quickly Removed

Anojan, a Tamil migrant worker from Narpittimunai, near Kalmunai in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province, travelled to Saudi Arabia for work in September 2025.

The case stems from a remark he wrote in Tamil during a dispute among Sri Lankans on social media. According to reports in Sri Lanka, he posted the comment, which was deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad, in response to a post that had mocked Hindu deities.

He deleted the comment soon afterwards and posted a video apologising for it. A screenshot of the post nonetheless circulated. His brother, Hamsidan Sivarasa, said people in Sri Lanka emailed the company that employed Anojan, which then notified the Saudi authorities.

Anojan was arrested on 2 July 2026. 'People in Saudi Arabia knew nothing about this matter,' his brother told BBC Sinhala.

From Cybercrime Case to Death Sentence

On 15 July, the Criminal Court in Al-Ahsa, in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, sentenced Anojan to five years in prison and fined him three million riyals, about £600,000 ($800,000). The original conviction reportedly fell under Article 6 of the kingdom's Anti-Cyber Crime Law, Tamil Guardian reported.

His lawyers appealed against the sentence, seeking a reduction. That appeal was rejected, according to Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath. Saudi prosecutors then lodged their own appeal, seeking to have the case dealt with under Sharia rather than the cybercrime legislation.

On 17 September 2026, the appellate court increased the punishment to death. Saudi Arabia's criminal justice system combines written legislation with Sharia-based judicial principles, leaving courts considerable discretion in some cases.

Courts in the kingdom can impose severe penalties for offences involving religious expression, and capital punishment has been used in cases involving alleged blasphemy.

Human rights organisations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have long criticised Saudi Arabia's use of the death penalty and its handling of cases involving speech and religious expression.

The case comes as executions in the kingdom reach record levels. Saudi Arabia carried out at least 356 executions in 2025, the highest annual figure Amnesty has recorded for the country, with drug offences accounting for 240 of them, according to Amnesty International.

Colombo's Legal Team in the Kingdom

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met Anojan's parents on 21 September and said the government would seek a pardon from the Saudi authorities. On 22 September, Herath informed parliament of the case.

The legal delegation is led by Additional Solicitor General Azard Navavi and includes President's Counsel Faiszer Musthapha and Upul Kumarapperuma, along with attorney Hafeel Farisz, the Daily Mirror reported.

Herath told parliament on 7 October that the team was in Saudi Arabia discussing the Supreme Court appeal with the Saudi legal team, and that the appeal was expected to be filed on 7 or 8 October. He said 17 October was the final date for the current legal process.

Herath also said Saudi authorities had indicated that a request for clemency should be made only after the judicial proceedings conclude.

A diplomatic delegation is expected to travel to the kingdom once the legal process ends. Officials have asked the family to refrain from further public statements while those efforts continue.

Past Cases That Tested Colombo's Diplomacy

Sri Lanka has confronted the Saudi justice system before over the fate of its migrant workers. On 9 January 2013, Saudi Arabia beheaded Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan domestic worker convicted of killing a four-month-old infant in her care. She was 17 at the time of the alleged offence, and her execution went ahead despite repeated appeals for clemency from the Sri Lankan government.

In 2015, a 45-year-old Sri Lankan woman was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. Colombo reopened the case after intervening diplomatically, and the sentence was later reduced to three years in prison.

Remittances from workers in the Gulf form a significant source of foreign currency for Sri Lanka, which is still recovering from the economic crisis that led it to default on its foreign debt in 2022. Saudi Arabia remains one of the principal destinations for Sri Lankans seeking employment abroad.

For his family in Narpittimunai, the wait for news continues. The legal team is pursuing the Supreme Court appeal, while Colombo prepares a diplomatic plea for clemency once the judicial process concludes.

With the current legal process due to end on 17 October, the Supreme Court appeal is the next test of whether his death sentence will stand.