An appeal to the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia against the death sentence imposed on Sri Lankan national Anojan Sivarasa has been finalized and is expected to be filed shortly, following consultations involving a delegation of Sri Lankan lawyers.
Sivarasa was sentenced to death by a Saudi Arabian appeals court over a Facebook post deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad.
The appeals court overturned an earlier ruling by a lower court that had sentenced him to five years in prison, following an appeal filed by the public prosecutor.
The court classified the alleged offense as a “Hadd” offense, a category of offenses under Islamic law considered to be against God.
Following the ruling, a delegation of Sri Lankan lawyers visited Saudi Arabia to assist in preparing an appeal to the country’s Supreme Court.
The delegation held several rounds of consultations with lawyers handling Sivarasa’s case and assisted in finalizing the legal submissions.
The Saudi Supreme Court is the country’s highest judicial authority and reviews lower court judgments primarily on legal and procedural grounds.
The Sri Lankan legal team comprised Additional Solicitor General and President’s Counsel Azard Navavi, President’s Counsel Faizer Musthapha, President’s Counsel Upul Kumarapperuma and Attorney-at-Law Hafeel Farisz.
Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ameer Ajwad, Consul General in Jeddah Justice Mohamed Laffar and Silmy Riyasdeen also participated in the process.
Ambassador Ajwad had earlier visited Sivarasa in prison as efforts continued to address his case.
The finalized appeal is expected to be submitted to the Saudi Supreme Court shortly, marking the next stage in legal efforts to challenge the death sentence. (Newswire)