E/CN.4/2001/0063 page 23 found in paragraphs 66 and 67 of document E/CN.4/1999/58. On 3 February 2000 Mr. Dhabihi-Muqaddam and Mr. Najafabadi were reportedly informed orally that the verdict in their case, namely the death sentence, had been confirmed. The same court reportedly sentenced Manuchehr Khulusi to death as well. This person was reportedly arrested in Birjand eight months ago and transferred to the Masshad prison because of his Baha’i activities. 78. The Islamic Republic of Iran provided the following reply: “I would like to inform you that the spokesman of the judiciary denied any confirmation of death sentence against Sirus Dhabihi-Muqaddam, Hidayat-Kashifi Najafabadi and Manuchehr Khulusi. He stated that the cases of the above-mentioned persons are still under consideration by the Supreme Court.” 79. On 25 September 2000 the Special Rapporteur was informed by non-governmental sources that the Supreme Court had ruled that the verdicts against Sirus Dhabihi-Muqaddam and Hidayat-Kashifi Najafabadi were unfounded and that the cases had been referred back to a court. It was also stated that Manuchehr Khulusi had been released in May 2000. Additional information from the Islamic Republic of Iran is thus very much desired. Israel 80. In recent years, Jewish prayer sites are reported to have been established, without official authorization, on Muslim graves, resulting in serious damage to religious antiquities. However, no legal proceedings have been instituted against those responsible. For example, at a location near the town of Modi’in, persons of the Jewish faith are alleged to have committed acts of vandalism against a Muslim burial ground and to have declared the place to be the burial site of Matiyahu Ben-Yohanan. Near Holon a synagogue has been built on the tomb of a sheikh in a Muslim cemetery after a Jewish religious group declared it to be the site of the tomb of Shimon Ben-Ya’akov. Also, young persons of the Jewish faith are said to have established a prayer site for the prophet Reuven on a Muslim site near Palmahim beach south of Tel Aviv. Italy 81. In a pastoral letter on immigration dated 14 September 2000, Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, Archbishop of Bologna, wrote that Italy should give preference to Christian immigrants over Muslims. “Even though Catholicism is no longer the State religion,” he explained, “it remains the historic religion of the nation.” Muslims, however, “have a different diet, different holy days, an approach to family rights that is incompatible with our own, and [a different] attitude toward women … and … a rigorous plan for uniting public and religious life.” He concluded, “Rather than Muslims, then, we should encourage the immigration of Catholics from Latin America, the Philippines or Eritrea.” 82. On 14 and 15 December 2000 the Northern League, a political party, organized a demonstration in Mantua to protest against the construction of a mosque on a site belonging to the municipality; a priest is said to have held a religious service on the protest site.