🔻Anojan Sivarasa, a 24-year-old Sri Lankan migrant worker in Saudi Arabia, faces the death penalty for posting content on Facebook that, in response to a religious dispute, contained insults to the Prophet of Islam.

The incident began after a widely circulated video showing a young Muslim man kicking a dog, filmed as Hindu pilgrims were passing through in Sri Lanka, which then led to debates and religious clashes on social media. During these discussions, one user made an insulting remark about one of the Hindu gods, and Anojan, in response, published a post about the Prophet of Islam. He deleted the post and apologized for his remarks, but a screenshot of the post was provided to his employer and Saudi officials, and he was arrested in July.

His case has triggered a wave of concern in Sri Lanka, and civil institutions, political parties, and the country’s government have begun diplomatic efforts to secure his pardon.

Anojan’s family has not received any new information about his situation for about a week.

The date of the sentence has not been announced, but Saudi Arabia has a record of carrying out executions without informing the family or the embassy of the convicted person’s country beforehand.

📷Anojan Sivarasa FB