Shanakiyan urges urgent action over reported death sentence for Lankan in Saudi Arabia

Batticaloa District ITAK MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam yesterday urged the Government to take immediate action to save the life of Sivarasa Anojan, a Sri Lankan national who has reportedly been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia.

In a statement posted on ‘X’, Rasamanickam said he would raise the matter in Parliament next week, while questioning the Foreign Ministry’s handling of the case and the accountability surrounding the appeal process.

He said Anojan had initially been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and fined SAR 3 million, but had reportedly received a death sentence following an appeal.

According to Rasamanickam, Anojan’s family pursued the appeal on the advice of Deputy Foreign Minister Arun Hemachandra, despite the Embassy’s legal assessment that the chances of success were “extremely low”.

He said the family had paid Rs. 1,890,766 in legal fees to an account identified with the Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following official instructions.

Documents from the Ministry’s Consular Division reportedly show that the appeal was filed on August 24, 2026, while the Ministry’s letter forwarding the appeal to the family was dated September 16, despite repeated requests for earlier access, Rasamanickam said.

The appeal filed before the Court of Appeal in the Eastern Region identifies Attorney Adlan Abdullah Al-Subaie as counsel. However, Rasamanickam said the family claimed that a different lawyer appeared in court and that they had not been informed of the lawyer’s identity or contact details.

He questioned who had selected and instructed the lawyer who appeared in court, how the legal fees had been disbursed and why the family had not received the appeal documents earlier.

Rasamanickam said these issues raised serious questions about the consular and diplomatic handling of the case, which he intended to pursue in Parliament.

However, he stressed that accountability should not delay urgent action.

“The Government must urgently secure experienced independent legal representation, pursue every remaining legal remedy and clemency process, and make diplomatic representations at the highest level in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

He urged the Government to use every available legal, consular, diplomatic and humanitarian avenue to save Anojan’s life, stressing that the life of a Sri Lankan citizen was at stake.Reports have claimed that the Saudi Arabian Appellate Court has sentenced Anojan, a Sri Lankan migrant worker, to death on blasphemy-related charges.