Saudi court overturns Sri Lankan man's death sentence

Sri Lanka's government said Saudi Arabia's highest court has overturned the death sentence imposed on Anojan Sivarasa, a 27-year-old Sri Lankan man convicted of blasphemy over a Facebook post.

Sivarasa was sentenced to death last month. He had deleted the post and apologised, but complaints against him led to his arrest in July.

He was first given a five-year sentence and appealed. An appellate court then increased the punishment to death.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake welcomed the Saudi Supreme Court's decision, thanking Saudi and Sri Lankan diplomats, civil servants and legal teams for their efforts.

The case recalled the 2013 execution of Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek in Saudi Arabia after she was convicted of murdering her employer's baby, despite appeals from Sri Lanka and the international community to spare her.