A Sri Lankan man serving a five-year sentence in Saudi Arabia over alleged defamatory remarks against Islam has reportedly had that sentence increased to capital punishment by an appellate court, the Daily Mirror reported on Friday, citing sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The man is named as Anojan Sivarasa. The Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh was verbally informed by his lawyer, who was present at the proceedings, that the sentence had been enhanced. The Embassy is awaiting the formal written judgment from the Saudi judicial authorities, which will set out the official details and the legal basis of the decision.
The sentence was increased on his own appeal
The sequence matters. Sivarasa had already been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of three million Saudi riyals. The riyal is pegged at 3.75 to the US dollar, which puts the fine at about US$800,000.
His lawyer submitted an appeal memorandum to the competent appellate court in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia on August 25, 2026. It is that appeal — filed on his behalf, roughly three and a half weeks earlier — which has reportedly produced the death sentence rather than a reduction.
What the government is doing
The matter has been raised with the Chargé d’Affaires of the Saudi Embassy in Colombo, with the government conveying its own deep concern and that of Sivarasa’s family.
The lawyer has advised that the judgment may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia within one month. The Embassy, acting under the Ministry’s guidance and in coordination with Sivarasa’s next of kin, is taking steps to lodge that appeal inside the deadline.
The Ministry said it remains engaged through diplomatic and bilateral channels and continues to provide consular assistance to Sivarasa and his family, while “respecting the judicial processes and laws of Saudi Arabia.”
Context
Saudi Arabia is one of the largest destinations for Sri Lankan migrant labour, and consular cases there have twice become national political issues — most prominently in the case of Rizana Nafeek, the domestic worker executed in the kingdom in 2013 despite a clemency campaign backed by the Sri Lankan government.
Sri Lanka itself retains the death penalty in law but has not carried out an execution in decades. The government said this week that no decision has been taken to resume executions, after the President ruled out pardons for underworld convicts. Sri Lankan courts continue to impose the sentence — the Chilaw High Court passed a death sentence in a heroin case this week.
Not reported
The Daily Mirror does not say what the remarks were, where or when they were published, when Sivarasa first went to Saudi Arabia, what work he did there, how long he has been in custody, or which court passed the original sentence. It does not give his age or home district, and it does not say whether the fine stands alongside the reported death sentence.
Critically, nothing has yet been confirmed in writing: the entire account of the enhanced sentence rests on a verbal report from his lawyer to the Embassy. No other verified newsroom had carried the story at the time of writing.
