On the page of the Deçan Monastery on the social network Twitter, it is written that the graffiti made on the Orthodox church building located on the premises of the University of Pristina, were made by students pushed by the mayor of Pristina, Shpend Ahmeti.
This claim raised in the statement of the representatives of this monastery, does not contain any supporting argument. Also, the context of the construction of this claim, does not match the event itself, since the activists who wrote on this unfinished object that was intended to end up as an Orthodox church, were from the Social Democratic Party of Kosovo (here).
Tweet made on the Decani Monastery Twitter page:
According to Kosovo Albanian media, the act of vandalism at a Serbian Orthodox church in central Pristina, where student activists wrote blasphemous graffiti, was instigated by Pristina Mayor Spend Ahmeti, a close political associate of Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti.
Authentic tweets (in English) on the Deçan Monastery Twitter page:
According to #Kosovo Albanian media acts of vandalism at the #Serbian #Orthodox #church in Priština downtown by painting blasphemous graffiti was done by student activists encouraged by Priština mayor Shpend Ahmeti, a close political associate of the Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti. pic.twitter.com/BuBKyXsEof
- Decani Monastery (@DecaniMoouncil) June 11, 2021
In this statement posted on Twitter, there is no fact that proves the claim that the activists were supported and encouraged by Shpend Ahmeti. Also, the claim that such a thing was written by the Kosovo Albanian media is unsubstantiated.
Hibrid.info has conducted in-depth research on social networks and online search engines, but has not found any credible media outlet in the Albanian language that has written and published such news.
This claim has been denied by the mayor of Pristina, Shpend Ahmeti. He published the claim of the Deçan Monastery in a tweet on his Twitter profile with the caption:
Both accusations are simply untrue! Why do you have to spread lies?
Analyze:
The claim of the Deçan Monastery discussed in this analysis clearly seems to be a fabrication. It seems that representatives of this religious institution have also gone beyond the context of political events in Kosovo, attempting to present the mayor of Pristina, Shpend Ahmeti, as a politician close to Prime Minister Kurti. This is due to the fact that political relations between Ahmeti and Kurti were severed at the beginning of 2018, when the mayor of Pristina, together with a group of other deputies from Vetëvendosje, left this political entity (here), to later establish the Social Democratic Party (PSD). Meanwhile, Ahmeti later left this party (PSD), where he held the position of chairman (here), which refutes the tendency of this claim of the Deçan Monastery to link it to the PSD activists who took action for inscriptions on the unfinished Orthodox church building in Pristina.
Based on the analysis of verified facts, it results that the claim raised by the Deçan Monastery should be considered "fake news".
Reasoning:
The "Fake News" rating is given to media reports that are entirely the product of a medium that itself contains factually incorrect claims or information.
Content that is considered fake news can be reliably determined to have been created and distributed with the intent to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as fact.