The Victorian man punished in Saudi Arabia with lashing for insulting the companions of Prophet Mohammed, Islam's holiest figure, arrived home in Melbourne, Australia on Friday.

Mansour Almaribe, 45, from Shepparton was lashed 75 times but with his jacket on, as a gesture of leniency by Saudi authorities. He was originally sentenced to be lashed 500 times and jailed for one year.

A few hours after the lashing, he boarded a plane in Dubai bound for Australia.

The father of five was met by his family at the Melbourne airport. It was a reunion as the family had not spoken to him for two months since his arrest in November in Medina, Saudi Arabia's holy city open only to Muslims.

The family was happy of Almaribe's release and commuted punishment as they believe he would not survive 425 lashes. Almaribe is suffering from diabetes and hypertension. He also has broken bones suffered in a car accident.

Through his spokeswoman, Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd expressed appreciation to the Saudi government's action.
"Saudi Arabian authorities have granted Mr. Almaribe a pardon from his prison sentence, and his corporal punishment was also greatly reduced and administered in a way that did not cause physical harm,'' the spokeswoman said, according to Sydney Morning Herald.

An Iraqi Shiite who fled Iraq in the late 1990s and sought asylum in Australia, Almaribe became an Australian citizen. In November, he traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform the haj or pilgrimage in Medina. On Nov. 14, Saudi religious police detained him for allegedly making insulting remarks on the relatives of Prophet Mohammad, the founder of Islam. He was sentenced to 500 lashes and one year imprisonment for blasphemy.

The Australian government appealed to the Saudi government for leniency. A Facebook page also petitioned the release of Almaribe.
Saudi Arabia imposes severe punishment for blasphemy, a serious offense under its Sharia law. But there were past cases of local and foreign offenders whose lashing, or even death sentence, was commuted.

Turkish barber Sabri Bogday was sentenced to death by a General Court in Jeddah in June 2007 for "swearing at Allah." He appealed the verdict before the Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court but both were denied. His last appeal was with Saudi King Abdullah, who asked him to repent and seek forgiveness from Allah. Bogday complied as was able to return to Turkey in 2009.

In 2005, King Abdullah, then a Crown Prince, commuted the sentence of four months imprisonment and 275 lashes on Dr. Hamza Al-Maziani. The linguistics professor at King Saud University was found guilty of "mocking religion."

Mansour Almaribe