The wife of Ahmed El-Gizawi, the Egyptian lawyer sentenced last week to five years in jail and 300 lashes in Saudi Arabia, has called on President Mohamed Morsi to demand her husband's pardon during his visit to the kingdom on Monday.

Shahenda El-Gizawi made the plea during an interview with CNN Arabic on Saturday after her husband was on Tuesday convicted of smuggling prescription drugs into Saudi Arabia whilst performing his umra pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina in April 2012.

Egyptian activists say the charges were trumped up by the Saudi authorities after his public criticisms of human rights violations in the Gulf kingdom.

"It is shameful to sentence him to lashes as it is an insult to every Egyptian," she said.

"I have asked the foreign ministry and the president to press for Ahmed to be pardoned. We were supposed to meet with representatives, but they said they could not and instead asked us to fax them our demands, which we will do on Sunday morning," she added.

The arrest of Ahmed El-Gizawi sparked outrage in April 2012, with hundreds of protesters gathering at the Saudi embassy in Cairo, prompting its brief closure and a decision by Saudi authorities to temporarily recall its ambassador.