Niko Bllazhde, publicly known as Nikolla Xhufka, along with his associate Lejdi Zagalli, will appear again before the Basic Court in Prishtina to face charges of incitement to division and intolerance.
Xhufka, who presents himself as the Archbishop of Kosovo, entered the Orthodox Church in Rakinicë, Podujevë, in 2023, declaring it an Albanian Orthodox church. The prosecution, however, considers the church to be part of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
While the court previously found no proof of violent entry, the Appeals Court ruled that evidence must be fully examined in trial to determine whether the defendants’ actions were intended against a social group based on nationality or ethnicity and whether they posed a threat to public order.
The court clarified that the crime falls under hate-motivated acts (Article 141 of Kosovo Penal Code), defined as actions deliberately targeting individuals or property linked to protected groups, including ethnic, religious, or other groups. Notably, the law does not require actual disruption of public order for the offense to be considered criminal.
According to the Special Prosecution, in November 2023, Xhufka posted a video on Facebook addressing Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, in which he warned against approaching the church in Rakinicë, describing it as “violent, illegal, and cursed” by the Albanian Orthodox Church.
Xhufka also claims to be the head of the First Albanian Orthodox Metropolis of Kosovo, though his authority is not recognized by any Orthodox church in the region. The church building he entered, St. Archangel Mihail Church, is a protected cultural monument under Kosovo’s Ministry of Culture.
