Actor Mel Gibson is calling for the release of Mark Swidan, a Texas man languishing on death row in China after he was “wrongfully detained” on drug charges more than a decade ago.

Swidan, a businessman from Houston, was arrested in 2012 on accusations that he was trafficking and manufacturing methamphetamine.

He was convicted and given a death sentence with reprieve in 2019, despite a lack of evidence — a decision China upheld earlier this month.

“The United States government has demanded his release, and we, as Americans, should stand up for this man who represents the best of us,” the Academy Award-winning star said in a video statement sent to News Nation Tuesday.

The US State Department said Swidan, 48, was “wrongfully detained” in response to China’s decision to uphold the death penalty and assured that it would “continue to press for his immediate release.”

A United Nations working group has also concluded he was arbitrarily detained in violation of international law.

“I ask for all of you to raise your voices and demand Mark’s release, and to pray that he’s returned to his family,” Gibson, 67, added in the video.

Swidan traveled to China in 2012 to secure cheap furniture and other goods for his new home in Houston, according to a United Nations investigation.

He was also there to buy helium on commission for a company in his hometown.

On November 13, he was arrested at a hotel in the southern Guangdong province.

Chinese authorities accused Swidan of being part of a group that produced more than 139 pounds of meth.

His mother, Katherine, said her son has lost his teeth and more than 100 pounds as he deteriorates in a jail cell without proper care.

“He would write and say ‘Mom, I’ve never been so cold in my life,’” she told News Nation, claiming that her son is forced to sleep on cardboard in a cement cell with no heat or air conditioning.

“For almost 11 years he’s slept with the lights on the whole time.”

The UN has also said that Swidan was subjected to coercion, ill-treatment, and a bad legal defense — amounting to a violation of his rights to due process.

The “Braveheart” actor described Swidan as a “man of great faith” in his impassioned plea.

“He’s a man of great faith, an American patriot, and he refuses during his captivity to renounce either his faith or his country,” Gibson said.

Swidan was arrested along with 11 co-defendants from Canada, China, Mexico and the US. 

He was held in pre-trial detention for 63 months, according to the UN.

With Post wires