Saudis sentence Australian man to 500 lashes for blasphemy

The family of Mansor Almaribe, who is facing a year in jail and 500 lashes in Saudi Arabia. Picture are Mohammad, 16, Jamal, 24, Wafaa, Isaam, 21, and Wally, 2. Picture: Fiona Hamilton Source: Herald Sun

THE family of an Australian man sentenced to 500 lashes and a year in jail in Saudi Arabia fears he will not survive the punishment.

Mansor Almaribe, from the Victorian town of Shepparton, was yesterday found guilty of blasphemy by a Saudi Arabian court.

The 45-year-old father of five was arrested in the city of Medina on November 14 while making the hajj pilgrimage and accused of insulting companions of the prophet Mohammed.

It’s reported he was reading and praying in a group when accosted by religious police and arrested.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Australian ambassador in Saudi Arabia,  Neil Hawkins, had been in touch with authorities to plead for leniency.

“The Australian ambassador has been in touch with Saudi authorities after a 45-year-old Australian man was sentenced by a court in Saudi Arabia to one year in jail and 500 lashes,” a DFAT spokeswoman said

The ambassador would “urgently pursue avenues for leniency with relevant authorities”.

A consular official attended the sentencing, at which Mr Almaribe was initially given a two-year jail term, subsequently reduced.

One of the man’s sons, Mohammed, told the ABC his father had serious health problems.

“Five hundred slashes on his back and he has back problems. I wouldn’t think he’d survive 50,” he said.

Saudi Arabia enforces a strict form of Sharia or Islamic law and the dominant form of Islam in the country is Wahhabism, an ultra-conservative strand of Sunni Islam.

Mr Almaribe is a constituent of Liberal MP Sharman Stone, who has called on Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd to intervene, “even perhaps to remove the sentence all together if that can be achieved”, she said.

Additional reporting: AAP

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

9 Replies to “Saudis sentence Australian man to 500 lashes for blasphemy”

  1. THE family of an Australian man ???

    Surely a Muslim man living in Australia under false pretences etc..

  2. Boo hoo hoo. They know the rules. Every day they wake up and chose to follow a belief system that they KNOW will see them whipped if they dare to express unsanctioned opinions.

    When a drunk driver smashes his car do we say ooo how terrible that alcohol was for wreking his car like that? No we think he is an ass for drinking too much. This is the exact same situation.

    He is a grown man, not a fresh convert who’s been systematically lied to. He knew exactly what to expect in a moral cesspit like Saudi Arabia.

    And, you will kindly note, that is why he keeps his family nice and safe thousands of miles away from a country based upon the religion he still seems to think is a good idea.

    I hope every lash hurts like hell.

  3. Believers profess, ‘allah – the merciful and beneficent’ . . .yeah, insh’allah and all that jazz. . . like Pope Urban II above said . . .they believe it, they want it, let them have it!
    Lan Astaslem.

  4. From what I have read from history a 500 lash sentence is probably a death sentence, a fact that will not bother men.

  5. I think he must be guilty. The whole family look like coloured blasphemers. The woman is posing for a picture showing her face and the beardless youths are dressed like some western men. The are clearly blasphemer material from imported into Australia. Coloured Blasphemer Imports.