Third Criminal Complaint Filed Against Nikolla Xhufka for Breaking into Serbian Orthodox Church

On 30 June, the Raška–Prizren Diocese filed its third criminal complaint against Nikolla Xhufka, a citizen of the Republic of Albania who falsely presents himself as an Orthodox bishop and is already facing two legal proceedings for the same offence. The Diocese’s legal representative submitted the complaint to the Kosovo Prosecutor’s Office in Priština.

Xhufka once again broke the lock on the 14th-century Church of Saint Archangel Michael, illegally taking over the church for the third time. He seeks to claim this property, which belongs to the Raška–Prizren Diocese, for his unrecognised organisation. As previously reported, Nikolla Xhufka falsely claims to be clergy, though he has never been recognised as such by any Orthodox Church, and in Albania he has frequently been criticised in the media for spreading hate speech and intolerance.

The Raška–Prizren Diocese is calling on the international community to urge Kosovo’s judicial authorities to finally exercise a basic minimum of diligence and will to protect the Church’s rights – rights that are guaranteed to the Serbian Orthodox Church as they are to any individual or religious organisation in this region. It is deeply troubling that an individual from Albania, who openly spreads religious hatred, has been able to break into this place of worship three times without consequence, illegally claiming it for an organisation that does not legally exist. Moreover, through social media he continues to incite hostility against Serbian Orthodox clergy and the Church as a whole, yet for the past two years Kosovo authorities have done nothing to prevent this.

At the same time, the Serbian Orthodox Church is forced to fight merely for the basic respect of its rights, such as the use of its religious symbols and the interior maintenance of its own properties. All of this highlights serious and systematic shortcomings in the Kosovo legal system.

Given that Kosovo’s institutions consistently show no interest in respecting the Church’s rights, whether it be basic protection from such harassment or the restoration of rights previously guaranteed and later revoked, the Diocese calls for the urgent consideration of the legal status of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo. It is now clear to all that the Church’s survival here depends on a resolution of this issue and the establishment of special, internationally guaranteed rights.