Man sentenced to death over deleted Facebook post after posting apology video

A man has been sentenced to death over a now deleted Facebook post.

Anojan Sivarasa is a 24-year-old man from Sri Lanka who had moved to Saudi Arabia, and has been given the death sentence in the country after being found guilty of blasphemy against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

The alleged blasphemy was in a comment that the 24-year-old had made on Facebook, which has since been deleted, and the case has now caused shock in Sri Lanka, where the government has launched diplomatic efforts to prevent the execution from being carried out.

Anojan made the comment during an argument on social media which resulted from an incident during a Hindu pilgrimage in Sri Lanka, where video footage of a young Muslim man kicking a dog which had been following Hindu pilgrims began to spread online.

This led to outrage online, and during the arguments a user had made insulting remarks about a Hindu god.

Anojan responded to this with derogatory comments about the Prophet Muhammad, written in Tamil, which he swiftly deleted before posting a video apologising for the comment.

The general law court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AFP via Getty Images)

However, a screenshot of the comments had been taken, which was shared with officials in Saudi Arabia and his employer, and he was arrested in July.

Anojan's accounts have since been deleted after Saudi authorities seized his devices.

His brother Hamsidan Sivarasa told the BBC: "People in Saudi Arabia knew nothing about this matter. It was individuals in Sri Lanka who sent emails to the company where my brother worked. I do not even wish to mention who those people are."

Anojan's mother has also issued a plea for her son's life, saying: "I plead for mercy for the wrongs committed by my son. Please forgive him and send him back to us."

Initially Anojan was given a sentence of five years in prison, and a fine of 3 million Saudi riyals, just over £600,000, but on 17 September Saudi prosecutors filed an appeal that he be tried under Sharia Law instead of cybercrime law, with an appeal court allowing this request, meaning that the sentence became the death penalty.

Saudi Arabia has a large immigrant population, particularly from South Asian countries (Getty Stock)

Sri Lanka's government is now pursuing all options in an effort to commute the sentence and obtain a general pardon, with Anojan's family meeting Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake on 21 September, where he told the family the government was directing diplomatic efforts at the case.

A legal delegation from Sri Lanka is travelling to Saudi Arabia to meet with defence lawyers representing Anojan.

Upul Kumarapperuma, President's Counsel, is a member of the team, and said: "There are two law firms in Saudi Arabia handling Anojan's case. We are going there to meet the lawyers from these two firms, discuss the case and plan what can be done next."

Anojan has lost communication with his family, with his brother saying on 28 September that they had not had word from him in two days.

At present Saudi authorities have not made public any official timeline indicating when the execution is scheduled to be carried out, and the country has previously executed people with no warning to either their families or embassies.

Saudi Arabia has a large population of people from South Asia, including India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

The majority of executions carried out in Saudi Arabia are for drugs offences or murder.