A Muslim from Australia has been sentenced to 500 lashes and a year in a Saudi Arabian jail after being convicted of blasphemy

The 45-year-old man, identified by family members as Mansor Almaribe of southern Victoria state, was detained in the holy city of Medina while making the Muslim pilgrimage of hajj. Family members said that Saudi officials accused him of insulting the companions of the Prophet Mohammed, a violation of Saudi Arabia's strict blasphemy laws. Australian officials have struggled to get to Almaribe with one being refused entry at the prison door and also because only followers of Islam may enter Medina, under Saudi law.