A/55/280 Indonesia 70. With regard to the case of the Muslim girl who converted to Christianity and disappeared for a period of time (see document E/CN.4/2000/65, para. 50), Indonesia has given a detailed account of the Court’s conclusions in this case, which were as follows. In March 1998, an evangelist had placed the girl under the protection of a certain man after announcing that she had converted. The evangelist was therefore afraid of being punished by her family. The girl then stayed in seclusion without any outside contact, even with her family, until she enrolled in a Christian school in July 1998 under a false name. Meanwhile, the man who had taken responsibility for her had forced her to have sexual relations. On 23 September 1999 he was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for rape of a minor and not on the basis of accusations of forced conversion or blasphemy. Iran (Islamic Republic of) 71. With regard to the trial of members of the Jewish community and of Muslims (see document E/CN.4/2000/65, paras. 51-52), the Islamic Republic of Iran has regularly kept the Special Rapporteur informed. On 30 March 2000, the Islamic Republic of Iran submitted the following explanation: In accordance with the relevant laws and regulations, the accused persons enjoy the right to be defended by lawyers of their own choice. The competent court in Shiraz has announced that up to now they have not chosen their own lawyer(s). As stipulated in the relevant laws and regulations, in the absence of any chosen lawyer, the court will ask the Bar Association to appoint a lawyer to defend them. The first hearing session of the court for the trial of the said persons will begin on 13 April 2000. 72. On 4 July 2000, the Islamic Republic of Iran wrote as follows: Referring to your letter regarding the trial of a group of people (including Jews and Muslims) on charges of espionage, I would like to inform you that they were tried by the court in Shiraz in the presence of lawyers of their own choice. In accordance with the relevant laws, the court acquitted five owing to insufficient evidence, and sentenced 12 to imprisonment, owing to clear evidence and confession of the accused. The time spent in detention will be included in prison terms. However, the case is still open and the accused and their lawyers have the right to appeal during 20 days after the issuance of the verdicts. The verdicts of acquittal were issued for the following five persons: Tymor Rezaii, Hussein Qabileh, Nejatollah Brukhimnejad, Omid Teflin and Navid Balazadeh. The following 12 persons were sentenced to 2 to 13 years’ imprisonment: Asher Zadmehr (13 years), Naser Levy Hayyam (11 years), Farhad Seleh (8 years), Javid Bent-e Yacoub (9 years), Shahrokh Paknahad (8 years), Hamid Teflin (13 years), Farzad Kashi (18 years), Ramin Fazam (10 years), Farzam Kashi (5 years), Ramin Nematizadeh (14 years), Ali-Akbar Safaie (2 years) and Mehrab Yusefi (2 years). Ukraine 73. In reply to the allegations on the situation, legal and otherwise, in the area of freedom of religion and conviction in Ukraine (see document E/CN.4/2000/65, para. 98), Ukraine gave a detailed account of its international commitments (its accession to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) and its legislation (the Constitution and the Act of 23 April 1991 on Freedom of Conscience and Religions Organizations), which guaranteed, on the one hand, freedom of religion and conviction and any manifestation of them, while acknowledging certain restrictions, and, on the other hand, the principle of non-discrimination. It was stated that no one could be exempt from his or her obligations to the State, nor could one refuse to obey the law for reasons connected with his or her religious convictions. It was added that when military service was against a person’s religious convictions it was replaced by another form of non-military service. Ukraine explained that legislation governing the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience and religion was currently under review. It stated that: As a result of the closer relations between the State and the Church that have developed since Ukraine attained independence, the number of religious organizations has grown by 10,321, a rise of 78.1 per cent. The increase was most marked in 1999, when 1,695 organizations were established, including 584 small independent communities. There are 23,543 religious organizations in Ukraine, representing 52 19