A Sri Lankan opposition lawmaker on Saturday urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the case of a young Sri Lankan Tamil facing judicial proceedings in Saudi Arabia.In making the appeal, Mano Ganesan, a leader of the Tamil Progressive Alliance, cited PM Modi’s “close ties” with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman.“I urge President @anuradisanayake to bring #Anojan_Sivarasa’s desperate plight to the urgent attention of your friend, recipient of ‘SriLanka Rathna’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Ganesan wrote on X.“Given PM Modi’s close ties with Saudi Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, I appeal to you to ask PM Modi to personally intervene with Crown Prince Salman and seek a humanitarian resolution for Anojan,” he added.The appeal concerns Sri Lankan national Anojan Sivarasa, whose family has claimed that he was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia over a social media post allegedly amounting to blasphemy.Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry, however, has not confirmed that Sivarasa has been sentenced to death.Sivarasa, a minority Tamil from Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province, is a resident of Natpittimunai in Kalmunai. He travelled to Saudi Arabia for employment nine months ago.The Sri Lankan ministry of foreign affairs on Friday confirmed that it remains engaged with Saudi authorities over the case.“The ministry remains engaged with the relevant Saudi authorities through diplomatic channels and is taking appropriate steps to safeguard Mr. Anojan Sivarasa’s interests and provide him with all possible assistance,” it said.
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Sivarasa was initially sentenced to five years in prison and fined three million Saudi riyals after being found guilty of posting social media content deemed insulting to a religion.According to the report, his lawyer later verbally informed the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh that the sentence had reportedly been enhanced to capital punishment.The embassy, however, is awaiting the formal written judgment from Saudi judicial authorities before confirming the development.The lawyer has also informed the embassy that the judgment could be appealed before Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court within one month. The embassy, in consultation with the ministry, is taking steps to pursue the appeal in coordination with Sivarasa’s family.Sri Lankan Tamils account for around 12-13% of the island nation’s population of more than 20 million and are mainly concentrated in the Northern and Eastern provinces.(With PTI inputs)
