A BANGLADESHI PhD student at Perth's Curtin University has appealed for Australian government protection after he was sentenced in absentia this week to six months' prison over a Facebook posting deemed insulting to his country's Prime Minister.

Muhammad Khandaker, 29, says he fears for his life after the Bangladesh High Court on Monday ruled him in contempt of court for failing to appear at his trial, and sentenced him to jail.

Mr Khandaker, a tutor and PhD scholarship student in electrical and computer engineering at Curtin University, told The Australian he found he had been sentenced only after seeing a Bangladeshi newspaper yesterday.

"I didn't know when my court hearing was, but this morning I saw headlines that the hearing was this week and I had been sentenced to jail," he said yesterday.

"Now the Bangladesh government is asking the Australian government to send me back.

"I'm so shocked at what's happened. I don't want to lose my life for this small mistake. We should be able to share our private feelings with our friends and family without it being used in the public media against you."

Mr Khandaker's troubles began in August, when comments he posted on his private Facebook wall, mourning the road accident death of acclaimed Bangladeshi filmmaker Tareq Masud and condemning the government for allegedly issuing thousands of licences to unqualified drivers, were leaked to the media.

Bangladeshi court officials this week claimed his Facebook post said: "Tareq Masud died as a result of government giving license (sic) to unqualified drivers. Many die, why does not Sheikh Hasina die?"

Mr Khandaker says the comments were written in frustration, meant for only a small audience, and were taken out of context from a much longer posting.

But after they were leaked -- he believes by a Bangladesh university colleague -- and received media attention, the High Court demanded Mr Khandaker and his employers at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka explain why he should not be tried for insulting Ms Hasina.

"I realised I should go back, but I was worried about my safety, and my relatives were also worried and told me I should not return," he said.

"Prisoners in Bangladesh have no rights. They don't get food in time, sometimes they're tortured by government forces and die in jail. I don't think I would survive. I need help from the Australian government so my human rights and my life are safe."

The Bangladesh High Commissioner to Australia, Masud Uddin Chawdhury, said yesterday he knew little of the case beyond what had appeared in the media, and had received no instructions from his government to press Australia for extradition.

The Australian High Commission in Bangladesh and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would not comment.