The Sri Lankan government is stepping up legal efforts to assist Sri Lankan national Anojan Sivarasa, who is facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, with a legal team currently in the Kingdom preparing an appeal to its Supreme Court, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament.
Herath said the deadline to submit the appeal is October 17 and that the government expects the legal team to complete and file it shortly following consultations with a Saudi law firm.
The minister said Sri Lankan legal experts and Saudi legal advisers are working together on the appeal, while the Foreign Ministry, Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment and Attorney General’s Department are coordinating efforts to provide Sivarasa with legal and consular assistance.
Herath also revealed that diplomatic efforts seeking clemency or a reduction of Sivarasa’s sentence are expected to follow the conclusion of the judicial process.
He said Saudi authorities had indicated during discussions that they would not support intervention while the case remained before the Supreme Court, and that any diplomatic intervention seeking clemency should take place after the judicial process concludes.
Meanwhile, the minister addressed reports that Sivarasa had recently been assaulted in prison.
Sri Lankan Embassy officials visited the prison on October 6 to inquire into the incident and met the head of the prison and a prison doctor.
According to information provided to the embassy by Saudi prison authorities, an argument between Sivarasa and another inmate sharing his cell had escalated into a physical altercation.
Herath said prison authorities and the doctor informed Sri Lankan officials that Sivarasa had sustained scratches and fingernail injuries to his face and that no knife, sharp instrument or other weapon had been used.
However, the minister confirmed that Sri Lankan Embassy officials were not permitted to meet Sivarasa personally during the visit and that the information regarding his injuries had been provided by Saudi authorities.
Herath said prison authorities had assured Sri Lankan officials that there was currently no identified threat to Sivarasa’s life and that measures had been taken to ensure his safety. Sivarasa has also been transferred to another cell.
Responding to claims from Sivarasa’s family that he had suffered more serious injuries, Herath urged against circulating unverified information, stressing that Sri Lanka was relying on information officially provided by Saudi authorities while pursuing legal and diplomatic efforts on his behalf.
The minister said the government remained committed to taking every possible step within Saudi Arabia’s legal and judicial framework to seek relief for Sivarasa. (Newswire)