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Hundreds gathered in Decani to protest a decesion of the Kosovo Constitutional Court which gives 24 hectares of land to teh monastery. Photo: BIRN

Several hundred Kosovo Albanians protested on Thursday against a ruling of the Kosovo Constitutional Court, which confirmed the rights of the Serbian Orthodox Visoki Decani monastery to 24 hectares of land.

At the peaceful protest, participants held up banners reading, “The Constitutional Court Trespassed on Justice”.

Locals gathered in response to the call of the chairman of Decani municipality, Rasim Selmanaj, who urged local residents to object to the decision.

In his speech at the protest, Selmanaj told the crowd that they will not accept the court’s decision, and vowed to oppose it.

He said he holds nothing against the historic monastery, because it is of great value to the region. “But the decision on property is unacceptable to the citizens of Decan,” Selmanaj said.

He urged the international community and leaders of the Serbian Orthodox Church to discuss a solution to the quarrel over the monastery’s land.

Several MPs from the opposition Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AKK, which recently opposed the EU-led border deal with Montenegro, joined the protest.

In a meeting of the regional assembly on Wednesday, Selmanaj said that, as chairman of the municipality, he would not accept the court’s decision, regardless of the consequences.

This is not the first protest over the land. In December 2015, about 200 demonstrators rallied to protest against an interim decision of the Constitutional Court, preventing the municipal court in Decan/Decani from hearing a case about the dispute.

The land was the focus of previous demonstrations in 2012 after the Supreme Court ruled that the disputed 24 hectares belonged to the monastery, not to two Kosovo companies, which have claimed it ever since the war between the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, and Serbian forces ended in 1999.

After 16 years of litigation, the Constitutional Court on May 20 confirmed the monastery’s right to the 24 hectares, equal to 59 acres.

In its decision, the Constitutional Court rejected last year’s decision of the Appellate panel of the Supreme Court’s Special Chamber to return the lawsuit to the basic court in Decani.

The Constitutional Court also ascertained that the previous decision of the Supreme Court from 27 December 2012, which confirmed the ownership rights of the Monastery was res judicata (a matter adjudged).

The diocese of Raska-Prizren of the Serbian Orthodox Church expressed satisfaction over the finalised decision.

“The Constitutional Court proved its competence and readiness to make an impartial judgement, which has permanently protected the property rights of the monastery to its land,” Bishop of Raska-Prizren Teodosije said in a statement.

“This decision is of particular importance for the sustainability of the Visoki Decani Monastery, a World Cultural Heritage site of UNESCO, as well as the future of its monastic community. At the same time it represents significant encouragement that, in the current circumstances, it is possible to protect one’s rights and vital interests in Kosovo,” he added.

Visoki Decani is one of the most important Serbian religious and cultural heritage sites in Kosovo. Construction began under Serbian King Stefan Uros, III Decanski in 1327 and he was buried in the still incomplete monastery in 1331.