Sri Lanka appeals to Saudi Arabia to overturn migrant worker’s death penalty
The Sri Lankan government is petitioning the Saudi Arabian Supreme Court to overturn a death sentence handed to a migrant worker for a social media post deemed blasphemous. The case has sparked international concern regarding freedom of expression and the treatment of migrant workers.
Why it matters
This case underscores the legal risks faced by migrant workers in countries with strict blasphemy laws and highlights the diplomatic challenges of protecting citizens abroad.
Sri Lanka is preparing to petition Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court to overturn a recent Court of Appeal ruling sentencing a migrant worker to death.
“We are working on an appeal and are hoping to file it today or tomorrow at the Supreme Court,” President’s Counsel Upul Kumarapperuma told The Hindu from Riyadh on Friday (October 9, 2026). He is part of a team of senior lawyers and officials from the public prosecutor’s office sent by the Sri Lankan government to Saudi Arabia.
The case, which has brought concerns about freedom of expression, migrant workers’ precarity, and the death penalty to the fore, stems from a social media comment posted in late June this year by Sivarasa Anojan, an engineer in his mid-twenties, employed in Saudi Arabia.
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