A four-member Sri Lankan legal delegation will leave for Saudi Arabia tomorrow (6) to pursue an appeal against the death sentence imposed on Sri Lankan migrant worker Anojan Sivarasa.
The delegation comprises Attorney General’s Department Additional Solicitor General Azard Navavi, PC, President’s Counsels Faiszer Musthapha and Upul Kumarapperuma, and Attorney-at-Law Hafeel Farisz.
The team will meet representatives of two Saudi law firms retained by the Foreign Ministry to handle the case, and discuss the appeal before the Saudi Supreme Court, at meetings scheduled for 7 and 8 October. The delegation will also finalise the documents for the appeal and meet Saudi officials, Navavi said. The appeal is expected to be filed through the Attorney General’s Department within the stipulated period.
Sivarasa, from Natpittimunai, Kalmunai, was initially sentenced by the Al-Ahsa Criminal Court to five years in prison and fined SR 3 million over a social media statement. His lawyers appealed for a reduced sentence, while Saudi prosecutors separately appealed for a harsher one. The appellate court increased the sentence to death.
The Government is pursuing both legal and diplomatic avenues. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is expected to send a clemency appeal to the King of Saudi Arabia, to be carried by a separate parliamentary delegation. The Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh is monitoring the case and coordinating with Saudi authorities.
The Chief Prelates of the Ramanya Maha Nikaya and the Amarapura Maha Nikaya recently handed the President a memorandum calling for State intervention to secure Sivarasa’s release.