Australia protests after expatriate flogged in Saudi Arabia SYDNEY March 5 - Australian Prime Minister John Howard lashed out Wednesday at Saudi Arabia's ``appallingly inhumane'' treatment of a middle-aged Melbourne man jailed and flogged for a crime he did not commit. Foreign affairs officials have already protested to Saudi Arabia about its treatment of hospital technician Robert Thomas, 55, who was arrested last June and jailed for a theft allegedly committed by his Filipina wife, Lorna. She denied a charge of stealing hospital equipment, but was convicted and, under Saudi Arabia's strict system of Islamic justice, Thomas was held to...