Mick Hartley

From the BBC:

An Australian man has been sentenced to 500 lashes and a year in prison after being convicted of blasphemy by judges in Saudi Arabia.

Officials in Canberra said they had been in touch with the Saudi authorities to request leniency.

Australian reports named the man as 45-year-old Mansor Almaribe from Shepparton in Victoria.

Reports said he was chronically ill and family members said they were extremely worried about his health.

"Five hundred lashes on his back, and he has back problems. I wouldn't think he'd survive 50," his son Mohammed told Australia's ABC News.

Almaribe had travelled to the country for a pilgrimage to Mecca.

He was arrested nearly a month ago, but details of the charges against him have not been made public.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs said the judge initially handed down a sentence of two years in jail and 500 lashes, but later reduced the jail time.

Which was nice of him. 

Details are unclear as to the exact nature of the offence, but the fact that he's Shi'ite is clearly relevant:

The Shepparton family of Mansor Almaribe, 45, who was also sentenced to a year in jail for blasphemy, will head to Canberra to plead for help.

Isaam Almaribe, 21, said his father suffered from diabetes and had broken bones in his back and knees from a car accident in Australia.

"Dad told us 'Take me out of here as soon as possible because if I stay here I will die' – that's how bad his situation is," Isaam said.

"He couldn't survive 50 lashes let alone 500 lashes."

The family’s local member, Murray MP Sharman Stone, said it was time for Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd to intervene….

“Mansor can’t speak clearly on the phone to the family, he’s had very brief calls and the family suspects they’re being monitored because he’s being very circumspect," Dr Stone said.

"Apparently he was in Medina with a group of fellow Shiites…and he was quoting out of a book which insulted the Prophet Muhammad’s companion. This is how it’s being described. Apparently this is a deeply offensive thing to do in the Medina apparently for people of Sunni Islamic philosophy or religion.