The family of Anojan Sivarasa, who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia before being acquitted of all charges, met President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (12) to thank him for intervening in the case.
Sivarasa’s parents told the President that their son was in good health. His mother said Dissanayake had intervened from the outset to help secure his release and acquittal.
Dissanayake said it was his responsibility to stand up for Sri Lankan citizens wherever they were in the world. He said the Saudi Government deserved special recognition for its role in securing Sivarasa’s release and acknowledged those who had helped regardless of ethnicity, religion or political affiliation.
Sivarasa’s mother also thanked Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Arun Hemachandra, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia O.L. Ameer Ajwad and embassy staff. She acknowledged the lawyers who travelled to Saudi Arabia to provide legal assistance and the Sri Lankans who supported the effort.
Social activist Rajkumar Rajeevkanth said the President had followed through on an assurance he gave when they first met. He said Sivarasa’s parents had experienced severe distress after learning that a Bangladeshi couple who had also been sentenced to death had been executed.
Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Chairman Koshala Wickremasinghe also attended the meeting.
