A Victorian man has been sentenced to 500 lashes and a year in jail in Saudi Arabia, with his family fearing he will not survive the punishment.

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

Mansor Almaribe.

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 has been reported he had been reading and praying in a group when accosted by religious police and arrested.