A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced Sri Lankan Tamil national Anojan to five years of rigorous imprisonment after he was found guilty in connection with a social media comment deemed offensive to Prophet Muhammad.

According to his family, the court also imposed a fine of 3 million Saudi riyals (approximately LKR 270 million).

Anojan, who was working in Saudi Arabia, was arrested on June 30 after a Facebook comment he posted was translated into Arabic and reported to the authorities.

Following the incident, he deleted the comment and released a video apologising to the Muslim community, stating that he regretted his actions and acknowledged that the post was wrong.

His family has appealed to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other authorities, seeking diplomatic intervention to secure his release.

Meanwhile, members of the public have reportedly begun donating money to help the family raise the court-imposed fine.