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Saving our overseas workers — through protests and diplomatic moves
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Consular officials at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Saudi Arabia will today visit the Sri Lankan female domestic aide who is sentenced to be stoned to death on allegations of committing adultery in the kingdom, as the government awaits the response to its appeal to get her freed. A request by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera to speak to his Saudi counterpart Adel Ibn Ahmad Al Jubeir was still pending yesterday. Sri Lanka Ambassador Azmi Thassim told the Sunday Times they were hoping to keep the prisoner informed about the current proceedings. He said an appeal was likely to re-open the case. Sri Lanka dispatched a fresh appeal through the Chargé d’ Affaires of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Colombo to the Saudi Arabian Government to secure the release of the domestic aide. Meanwhile, women’s rights and civic action movements demonstrated outside the United Nations office in Colombo, protesting Saudi Arabia’s election to the UN Human Rights Council and demanding action to prevent the stoning to death of the Sri Lankan housemaid. Pic by Amila Gamage