A 24-year-old Sri Lankan migrant worker is facing execution in Saudi Arabia after an appellate court sentenced him to death over a Facebook comment deemed blasphemous. Anojan Sivarasa was initially sentenced to five years in prison and fined three million Saudi riyals under the country’s cybercrime law.

His case took a drastic turn on September 17 after prosecutors appealed for him to be tried under Sharia law. The appellate court then increased his sentence to death. Sivarasa had become involved in a religious argument on social media after another user posted derogatory remarks about a Hindu deity.

He responded with a comment insulting the Prophet Muhammad but deleted it within minutes and later apologised in a video. The comment was nevertheless screenshotted and sent to his employer and Saudi authorities, leading to his arrest in July. His family has not heard from him since September 28, and no execution date has been announced.

Humanists UK has called on the British Government to urgently intervene and launched a petition seeking action to save Sivarasa’s life. The organisation’s chief executive, Andrew Copson, said everyone has the right to speak freely about religion and that no one should face the death penalty for a social media post.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan government has been seeking a pardon for Sivarasa. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met the family in September and assured them that every effort would be made to secure his release. A four-member legal delegation has also been sent to Saudi Arabia to meet the lawyers handling the case.