Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court has set aside the death sentence handed to a Sri Lankan migrant worker over a Facebook post about the Prophet Muhammad, Sri Lanka's government says.

Anojan Sivarasa was sentenced to death in September after an appellate court accepted a prosecution request to try him under Sharia law rather than the kingdom's cybercrime legislation. The Al-Ahsa Criminal Court had earlier given him five years in prison and a fine of 3 million Saudi riyals, about $0.8 million.

Sri Lanka's deputy foreign minister, Arun Hemachandra, said in a Facebook post that the Supreme Court had quashed the sentence, and thanked the authorities and lawyers in both countries for their efforts. Lawmaker and President's Counsel Faiszer Musthapha confirmed the ruling to BBC Sinhala.

The case began with an argument on social media. In late June, footage of a young Muslim man kicking a dog behind Hindu pilgrims spread online and triggered a religious dispute. After another user posted derogatory remarks about a Hindu deity, Sivarasa replied in Tamil with a comment insulting the Prophet Muhammad. He deleted the comment and posted an apology video, but a screenshot of it was sent to his employer and to Saudi officials, and he was arrested in July.

The sentence had drawn widespread concern in Sri Lanka. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met Sivarasa's family on 21 September and promised to seek a pardon, Buddhist and Hindu religious leaders handed a memorandum to the President's Secretariat, and the government said it would cover his legal costs. Human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, had urged Saudi Arabia not to carry out the execution.

Sri Lankan officials say it is not yet clear whether further legal proceedings will follow, whether Sivarasa will remain in detention and for how long. The ministry said it was still reviewing the court's decision.