A/HRC/4/21/Add.3 page 11 worship, observance, practice and teaching. The freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief may only be subjected to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others. Law on the Protection of the Religious Unity 36. According to the Law on the Protection of the Religious Unity, the Government and the people of the Maldives are obliged to protect and safeguard religious unity and harmony in the country. The law criminalizes any action or form of expression intended to disrupt, jeopardize or disunite social and religious order and harmony. A person convicted of committing, or attempting to commit, an offence can be sentenced from two to five years’ imprisonment or house arrest. 37. A person convicted of aiding or abetting an offence can be sentenced to a fine, two to four years’ imprisonment or house arrest. The Special Rapporteur notes that seven people have been convicted of offences under that law during the last five years. Of these, four were convicted in 2002 for spreading materials which called to join Christianity and two people were convicted in 2005 for conducting Friday prayers without the licence to do so. Another person was convicted in 2006 for teaching Islam without the proper authorizations. Furthermore, 3 people were arrested under the act in 2001, 22 were arrested in 2002, 15 were arrested in 2003, 2 were arrested in 2004 and 11 were arrested in 2005. 38. In addition to criminalizing certain actions and forms of expression, the religious unity law also empowers the President, who has designated the role to the Supreme Council, to license preachers and authorize domestic and imported materials about Islam. The sole role of preachers is to read Friday prayers, which are centrally drafted by the Supreme Council in order to maintain religious harmony. According to the Supreme Council, nobody had lost their licence for expressing their own ideas to their congregations. However, other sources informed the Special Rapporteur that at least one individual had been arrested and subsequently lost his licence for this reason. 39. In addition to the Law on Religious Unity, there are a number of other legal provisions that restrict speech and other forms of expression about religion or belief. Article 25 of the Constitution limits freedom of expression in the interest of protecting the basic tenets of Islam. The Constitution also provides that members of the People’s Majlis or the Special Majlis can be held liable for anything they say that contradicts the basic tenets of Islam.2 Section 22 of the Rules Governing the Publication of Newspapers, Magazines and other such Items prohibits the publication of anything that may create religious dissent among people or impair the Islamic character of the Maldives. The Government informed the Special Rapporteur that when a person breaches Section 22 of the said Rules, that person would be tried under Section 88 (a) of the Penal Code (Disobedience to order issued under or authorized by judicial or legal authority), for which the penalties are a maximum of six months’ house arrest or banishment or jail. 2 See article 84 and article 104, respectively (the Constitution is available on the Internet at: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rsd/rsddocview.html?tbl=RSDLEGAL& id=3ae6b59618&count=0).