A/56/253 Turkey 71. Early in 2000, Mr. Kemal Timur, a member of the Turkish Protestant Church of Diyarbakir, allegedly distributed copies of the New Testament. The police are said to have questioned him eight times but no action was taken against him. On 1 May 2000, he was reportedly arrested by the police following a complaint made by someone who accused him of having insulted Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. In December 2000, he was informed that legal proceedings had been instituted against him five months earlier on the basis of Law No. 64/1, “Propaganda against Religious Freedom”. Ukraine 72. In November 2000 in the village of Mazanka in the region of Simferopol Crimean Tatars are reported to have destroyed an Orthodox cross erected in a public place. Representatives of the Mejlis of Crimean Tatar People and of the Leadership of Muslims in Crimea justified the act by saying that the local authorities had disregarded their opposition to the display of Christian symbols in public, an expression of the policies of the local diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church supported by the local authorities. The President of the Council for Religious Matters in Crimea explained that the Orthodox diocese had proceeded to erect the cross in the public domain on the hilltop and to put up religious posters in public places without consulting the Crimean Tatar Muslim community and without clearance from the local authorities. The press had used the incident to convey a message of intolerance towards Muslims. 73. Although the Greek Catholic Church was registered in 1991, the local authorities in Sevastopol have reportedly refused to grant its request for a plot of land within the city centre on which to build a church. The urban development plan approved in 1995 apparently provides only for Orthodox churches. The only options the municipal council has offered the Greek Catholic Church are lots outside the city. Viet Nam 74. On 19 November 2000, Mr. Ha Hai, Secretary-General of the Hoa Hao Buddhist Church of Viet Nam, was reportedly arrested for his religious activities and, on 15 January 2001, he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. On 21 January 2001, the Venerable Nguyen Van Dien, deputy head of the church, reportedly was also arrested and is being held at the Thot Not district prison. 75. In November 2000 the authorities are said to have prohibited some ethnic groups in the central highlands from practising their beliefs, which combine elements of Christianity and animism. 76. On 3 February 2001, the Venerable Thich Quang Do, Director of the Dharma Propagation Institute of the Unified Buddhist Church of Viet Nam, was reportedly arrested by the security forces of Quang Ngai province after visiting the Patriarch of the Church. The security forces allegedly confiscated a video and photographs taken with the Patriarch, later saying that they were searching for documents “threatening to national security”. The Venerable Thich Quang Do was placed under detention. On 29 March 2001, he wrote a letter to the Government seeking the release of the Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Viet Nam, Thich Huyen Quang. He also 19