Saudi Arabia Overturns Death Sentence For Sri Lankan Man

Saudi Arabia's highest court has overturned the death sentence imposed on a Sri Lankan man for blasphemy against Islam, the government in Colombo said on Wednesday.

Anojan Sivarasa, 27, was sentenced to death last month after a Saudi court convicted him of blasphemy over a Facebook post.

The Sri Lankan worker had deleted the offending post and apologised, but complaints against him led to his arrest in July.

He was initially given a five-year sentence, which he appealed against. An appellate court then increased the punishment to death.

The Sri Lankan government welcomed the Saudi Supreme Court's decision.

"I express my sincere appreciation to the Government of Saudi Arabia for this humane and just outcome," President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said on X.

"I also thank the many Saudi Arabian and Sri Lankan diplomats, civil servants and legal teams for their dedicated efforts."

Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek was beheaded in 2013 after being convicted of murdering her employer's baby. She had arrived in Saudi Arabia in 2005, a week after allegedly travelling there at the age of 17.

The execution went ahead despite concerns about her trial and numerous appeals from Sri Lanka and the international community to spare her.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)