By The Pulseline News Desk
The Government is taking steps to appeal the death sentence imposed on Sri Lankan national Anojan Sivarasa in Saudi Arabia, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament.
Herath has said legal proceedings concerning Sivarasa remain ongoing before the Saudi judicial authorities, with the Saudi Court of Appeal delivering its verdict on September 17, 2026.
He has said arrangements are now being made to submit an appeal before the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia, with the intervention of the Sri Lankan Government.
The appeal is being pursued with the assistance of a Sri Lankan legal team and Saudi legal consultants, the Minister has said.
Meanwhile, officials of the Sri Lankan Embassy have visited Dammam Prison, where Sivarasa is being held, on two occasions. During their latest visit on October 6, embassy officials have met the prison warden and prison doctor to inquire into an incident in which Sivarasa reportedly sustained injuries during an altercation with another inmate.
According to prison authorities, the scratches and marks on Sivarasa’s face were caused during a physical altercation that had followed a verbal dispute between the two inmates, who had been sharing the same cell.
The prison doctor has reportedly confirmed that no knives, tools or other weapons were used and that the injuries had been caused by the other inmate’s fingernails.
Saudi prison authorities have also assured the Sri Lankan Embassy that there was currently no identified threat to Sivarasa’s life and that necessary measures had been taken to ensure his safety.
Sivarasa has since been transferred to another cell within Dammam Prison, Herath has said.
The Minister has assured Parliament that the Government would continue to take all possible steps within the Saudi legal framework to seek relief for Sivarasa and pursue the available avenues to challenge the death sentence.
A legal team led by Faiszer Musthapha PC and Upul Kumarapperuma PC are already in Saudi Arabia preparing the necessary legal representation.
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