The Sri Lankan Government’s timely intervention, through the dispatch of a specialised legal team to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, may have saved the life of Anojan Sivarasa. The team travelled to support efforts to overturn the death sentence imposed on him by the Court of Appeal of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Sivarasa was sentenced to death on 17 September 2026. Thereafter, efforts to find a diplomatic solution were spearheaded by the President, the Foreign Minister and Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mr. Amir Ajwad.
The President also sent a delegation comprising a specialised legal team: Mr. Azad Navavi, Additional Solicitor General; President’s Counsel Mr. Faiszer Musthapha; President’s Counsel Mr. Upul Kumarapperuma; and Mr. Hafeel Farisz, Attorney-at-Law. The team was tasked with advancing the legal process and preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Sivarasa was convicted of blasphemy as a “hadd” offence—an offence against God for which punishment is prescribed in the Quran. The legal team’s position was that the ruler or King of Saudi Arabia could not grant a pardon for a hadd conviction because the offence was committed against God.
Sources said that, following extensive consultations with two Saudi law firms, the legal delegation strengthened the appeal on specific legal grounds. The team identified four key issues, including whether the Court of Appeal had given Sivarasa an opportunity to plead to the blasphemy offence following his initial conviction under the anti-cybercrime law.
The delegation also raised the ambiguity surrounding the classification of the offence as hadd. The punishment of death for insulting the Prophet of Islam is not prescribed in the Quran, the sources said. They said there are differing schools of thought in Sharia law, drawing on the hadiths and other interpretations, as to whether such an offence should be punishable by death.
The confession, including the circumstances in which it was obtained, was also among the issues raised in the appeal.
Sources said the delegation landed in Riyadh on the day the airport came under attack. Further attacks on the airport occurred while the delegation was in the country. The security situation forced its members to leave Saudi Arabia by different routes, with some travelling by land and others departing by air from different locations.
The appeal is due to be filed on 18 October 2026. Sources said the legal team was confident in its grounds.
Sri Lankan sources also said Ambassador Amir Ajwad played a significant role in facilitating the appeal, helping to formulate the process and pursuing the matter through diplomatic channels.
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