E/CN.4/2000/65 page 21 He is said to have been released after paying $1,000 and to have left the town where he was arrested. In the town of Navoi, the Seventh Day Adventists are reported to have built a church which the authorities are refusing to register. 76. In a detailed reply dealing with the case referred to above, Uzbekistan explained that the individual in question had violated the legislation on religious organizations by reason of the activities he engaged in without the Seventh Day Adventists being officially registered in the town of Karshi. It confirmed that he had been sentenced to a fine in accordance with the Code on Administrative Responsibility and explained that he had left the town to return to his place of residence. It added that the Seventh Day Adventists were registered by the Justice Department in Navoi region on 13 January 1999. In that respect, the Government explained that any religious organization could be established on the initiative of at least 100 citizens aged 18 or over and permanently resident in the territory. For the coordination and supervision of religious activities, a central administrative body could be established by the Constituent Assembly of representatives of the religious organization registered, operating in at least eight territorial divisions of Uzbekistan. A religious organization acquired legal status and could carry on its activities only after being registered by the Ministry of Justice and its representatives in the province. The Special Rapporteur wishes to draw attention to the fact that regulation of the exercise of worship, while being useful and very often necessary, must not constitute an obstacle to freedom of religion. 77. According to other communications, several Jehovah’s Witnesses are said to have been arrested and fined and even imprisoned for religious activities which were illegal because they had not registered their congregation. In June 1999, four converts from Islam to the Christianity of the unregistered organization “Full Gospel Church” were allegedly sentenced to lengthy prison terms for drug possession, whereas the case was apparently a police set-up forming part of a strategy to combat the rise of Christianity among the population. In June 1999, one person was allegedly arrested for distributing Christian pamphlets to soldiers during a stopover at Nukus airport. Pakistan 78. In Karachi, four men were reportedly murder by Shiites in January 1999 while at prayer in a mosque. The police are said to have arrested members of the Sipah-e-Sahaba extremist group, who reportedly denied any responsibility. In December 1998, a bomb is said to have exploded in the cathedral, injuring a worshipper. In addition, an Ahmadi was reportedly murdered by a member of an anti-Ahmadi organization. 79. Muslim extremists are reportedly still using the blasphemy acts against the Ahmadi community. These extremists are said to have threatened the police in order to make them register their complaints about blasphemy. In Karachi, a Muslim woman who converted to Christianity was allegedly harassed by Muslim clerics and other Muslims. The woman’s children are said to have been expelled from their schools because of her conversion. The police were informed of these developments, but allegedly took no action. The curriculum of secondary schools apparently includes mandatory Islamic instruction for Muslim students, who must take exams on the subject. Reportedly, students from non-Muslim communities are denied this opportunity with regard to their own religions. Students in non-Muslim private schools can