Former Sri Lankan cricket captain Sanath Jayasuriya has joined calls for clemency for Sri Lankan national Sivarasa Anojan, making a public appeal to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to consider granting him a pardon on humanitarian grounds.
In a social media post, Jayasuriya highlighted the unity among Sri Lankans, regardless of religion or ethnicity, in supporting the humanitarian appeal.
“As Sri Lankans, we stand together, regardless of our religion or ethnicity. We humbly appeal to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to kindly consider granting a pardon to our fellow Sri Lankan, Sivarasa Anojan, on humanitarian grounds,” he said.
Jayasuriya also tagged Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs in his post.
The former captain’s appeal adds a prominent voice from Sri Lanka’s sporting community to calls seeking clemency for Anojan.
Anojan, a Sri Lankan migrant worker from Kalmunai, was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia over a social media post deemed insulting to Islam.
A Sri Lankan legal delegation has been working with Saudi lawyers to challenge the sentence, with an appeal scheduled to be filed before the Saudi Supreme Court.
The Sri Lankan government is also pursuing diplomatic efforts to seek clemency. (Newswire)
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