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Arkan

January 09, 2023

For other uses, see Arkan (disambiguation).

Željko Ražnatović (Serbian Cyrillic: Жељко Ражнатовић, pronounced [ʒêːʎko raʒnâːtoʋitɕ]; 17 April 1952 – 15 January 2000), better known as Arkan (Serbian Cyrillic: Аркан), was a Serbian mobster, politician, sports administrator, paramilitary commander and head of the Serb paramilitary force called the Serb Volunteer Guard during the Yugoslav Wars.

Željko Ražnatović
Жељко Ражнатовић
Ražnatović and "Tigers"
Member of the National Assembly
In office
25 January 1993 – 20 October 1993
PresidentZoran Lilić
Zoran Aranđelović
Personal details
Born(1952-04-17)17 April 1952
Brežice, PR Slovenia, FPR Yugoslavia
Died15 January 2000(2000-01-15) (aged 47)
Belgrade, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia
Cause of deathGunshot wounds[1]
Resting placeBelgrade New Cemetery
NationalitySerbian;[clarification needed] Yugoslavian
Political partyParty of Serbian Unity
Spouse(s)Natalija Martinović
(div. 1994)
​
(m. 1995)​
Children9
RelativesVeljko Ražnatović (father)
NicknameArkan
Criminal information
Criminal charge
PenaltyNo (assassinated)

He was on Interpol's most wanted list in the 1970s and 1980s for robberies and murders committed in a number of countries across Europe, and was later indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for crimes against humanity. Up until his assassination in January 2000, Ražnatović was the most powerful organized crime figure in the Balkans.

Early life

Željko Ražnatović was born in Brežice, a small border town in Lower Styria, PR Slovenia, FPR Yugoslavia. His father Veljko, was born in Rijeka Crnojevića near Cetinje, and had taken part in the Partisan liberation of Priština (Kosovo) during World War II.[2][unreliable source?] Later on, Veljko served as a decorated officer in the SFR-Yugoslav Air Force, being highly ranked for his notable involvement in World War II. Veljko was stationed in Slovenian Styria at the time when his fourth child Željko was born.[3]

Infant Željko spent part of his childhood in Zagreb (SR Croatia) and Pančevo (SR Serbia), before his father's job eventually took the family to the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade (SR Serbia), which is considered his hometown.[4] He grew up with three older sisters in a strict, militaristic patriarchal household with regular physical abuse from his father. In a 1991 interview he recalled: "He didn't really hit me in a classical sense, he'd basically grab me and slam me against the floor."[5]

In his youth, Ražnatović aspired to become a pilot as his father had been. Due to the highly demanding and significant positions of his parents, there appeared to be very little time in which a bond was able to be established between parents and children. Ražnatović's parents eventually divorced during his teenage years.[4]

Teenaged Ražnatović was arrested for the first time in 1966 for snatching women's purses around Tašmajdan Park,[6] spending a year at a juvenile detention center not far from Belgrade. His father then sent him to the seaside town of Kotor (SR Montenegro) in order to join the Yugoslav Navy, but young Ražnatović had other plans (ending up in Paris at the age of fifteen). In 1969 he was arrested by French police and deported home, where he was sentenced to three years at the detention center in Valjevo for several burglaries. During this time he organized his own gang in the prison.[4]

In his youth, Ražnatović was a ward of his father's friend,[7][page needed] the Slovenian politician and Federal Minister of the Interior, Stane Dolanc.[8] Dolanc was chief of the State Security Administration (UDBA) and a close associate of President Josip Broz Tito. Whenever Ražnatović was in trouble, Dolanc helped him, allegedly as a reward for his services to the UDBA, as seen in the escape from the Lugano prison in 1981. Dolanc is quoted as having said: "One Arkan is worth more than the whole UDBA."[8]

Criminal career

Western Europe

In 1972, aged 20, Ražnatović migrated to Western Europe.[6] Abroad, he was introduced to and kept contact with many well-known criminals from Yugoslavia, such as Ljuba Zemunac, Ranko Rubežić, Đorđe "Giška" Božović, Goran Vuković, etc., all of whom were also occasionally contracted by the UDBA, and all of whom were since assassinated or otherwise killed. Ražnatović took the nickname "Arkan" from one of his forged passports. On 28 December 1973, he was arrested in Belgium following a bank robbery, and was sentenced to ten years in prison.[6]

Ražnatović managed to escape from the Verviers prison on 4 July 1979.[6] Although he was apprehended in the Netherlands on 24 October 1979, the few months he was free were enough for at least two more armed robberies in Sweden and three more in the Netherlands. Serving a seven-year sentence at a prison in Amsterdam, Ražnatović pulled off another escape on 8 May 1981 after someone slipped him a gun. Wasting no time, more robberies followed, this time in West Germany, where after less than a month of freedom he was arrested in Frankfurt on 5 June 1981 following a jewellery store stickup. In the ensuing shootout with police he was lightly wounded, resulting in his placement in the prison hospital ward. Looser security allowed Ražnatović to escape again only four days later, on 9 June, supposedly by jumping from the window, beating up the first passerby and stealing his clothing before disappearing.[6] His final European arrest occurred in Basel, Switzerland, during a routine traffic check on 15 February 1983. However, he managed to escape again within months, this time from Thorberg prison on 27 April.

It is widely speculated that Ražnatović was closely affiliated with the UDBA throughout his criminal career abroad.[6] He had convictions or warrants in Belgium (bank robberies, prison escape), the Netherlands (armed robberies, prison escape), Sweden (twenty burglaries, seven bank robberies, prison escape, attempted murder[9]), West Germany (armed robberies, prison escape), Austria, Switzerland (armed robberies, prison escape), and Italy.

Return to Yugoslavia

Ražnatović returned to Belgrade in May 1983, continuing his criminal career by managing a number of illegal activities. In November of that year, six months after his return, a bank in Zagreb was robbed with the thieves leaving a rose on the counter (allegedly Ražnatović's signature from his robberies in Western Europe).[6] Looking to question Ražnatović about his whereabouts during the robbery, two policemen, members of the Secretariat of Internal Affairs' (SUP) Tenth department from the Belgrade municipality of Palilula, showed up in civilian clothing at his mother's apartment on 27 March Street in Belgrade.[6] Ražnatović happened to not be home at the moment, so the policemen introduced themselves to his mother as "friends of her son looking to return a cash debt they owed him" and asked the woman if they could wait for him to return to the apartment. Ražnatović's mother phoned him to say that two unknown males waited for him.[6] Ražnatović showed up with a revolver and proceeded to shoot and wound both policemen. He was detained immediately; however, barely 48 hours later, he was released. The occurrence made it clear to all observers, especially his criminal rivals, that he enjoyed protection from the highest echelons of the Yugoslav state security establishment.

Ražnatović spent the mid-1980s running the Amadeus discothèque together with Žika Živac and Tapi Malešević. Located in the Tašmajdan neighbourhood, the nightclub was reportedly another perk of their contractual work for the UDBA.[6]

Moreover, Ražnatović could be seen driving around Belgrade in a pink Cadillac and gambling on roulette in casinos all over the country, from Belgrade (Hotel "Slavija") and nearby Pančevo to Sveti Stefan (Hotel Maestral on the Miločer beach) and Portorož (Hotel Metropol).[6]

An avid gambler, following a private game of poker in an apartment at Ive Lole Ribara Street in Belgrade, Ražnatović got into an elevator altercation with a tenant from the apartment building, reportedly breaking the man's arm after beating him with a gun. Ražnatović could not avoid being charged this time and the trial saw a notable exchange between him and the judge; during the pre-session identification, Ražnatović stated he was an employee of the Secretariat of Internal Affairs (SUP). When this was challenged by the prosecutor, Ražnatović produced a document summarizing a mortgage loan he obtained from the UDBA for his house at Ljutice Bogdana Street. He ended up receiving a six-month sentence, which he served at the Belgrade Central Prison.[6]

Yugoslav Wars

Early

Only days after the 1990 Croatian multi-party election, Ražnatović, who was the leader of the Delije (hooligan supporters of the football club Red Star Belgrade), was present at the away game against Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb at Stadion Maksimir on 13 May, a match that ended in the infamous Dinamo–Red Star riot.[10] Ražnatović and the Delije, consisting of 1,500 people, were involved in a massive fight with the home team's football hooligans.[11]

On 11 October 1990, as the political situation in Yugoslavia became tense, Ražnatović created a paramilitary group named the Serb Volunteer Guard (SDG). Ražnatović was the supreme commander of the unit, which was primarily made up of members of the Delije and his personal friends.[12][13][14]

In late October 1990, Ražnatović traveled to Knin (in Croatia) to meet representatives of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, a Serb break-away region that sought to remain in FR Yugoslavia, as opposed to the Croatian government that seceded. On 29 November, Croatian police arrested him at the Croatian-Bosnian border crossing Dvor na Uni along with local Dušan Carić and Belgraders Dušan Bandić and Zoran Stevanović. Ražnatović's entourage was sent to Sisak and was charged with conspiracy to overthrow the newly formed Croatian state. Ražnatović was sentenced to twenty months in jail. He was released from Zagreb's Remetinec prison on 14 June 1991. It has been claimed that the Croatian and Serbian governments agreed on a DM1 million settlement for his release.[15]

In July 1991, Ražnatović stayed for some time at the Cetinje monastery, with Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović. His group of men, fully armed, were allowed to enter the monastery, where they served as security.[16][17] Ražnatović's group traveled from Cetinje to the Siege of Dubrovnik. On his return from Dubrovnik, he was again a guest at Cetinje.[16]

War

The SDG (acronym for Srpska dobrovoljačka garda – lit. 'Serb[ian] volunteerly guard'), also known as "Arkan's Tigers", was organized as a paramilitary force supporting the Serb armies, set up in a former military facility in Erdut. The force, led by Ražnatović and Milorad Ulemek ("Legija"), consisted of a core of 200 men and perhaps totaled no more than 500 to 1,000, but was much feared by the public.[18] Under Arkan's command the SDG massacred hundreds of people in eastern Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.[19] It saw action from mid-1991 until late 1995, and was supplied and equipped privately, by the reserves of the Serbian police force or through capturing enemy arms.

When the Croatian War of Independence broke out in 1991, the SDG was active in the Vukovar region, committing crimes against Croat and Hungarian civilians in Dalj, Erdut, Tenja and other areas. After the Bosnian War broke out in April 1992, the unit moved between the Croatian and Bosnian fronts, engaging in multiple instances of ethnic cleansing by killing and forcefully deporting mostly Bosniak civilians. In Croatia, it fought in various areas in SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (Serbian Krajina). Ražnatović, reportedly, had a dispute over military operations with Krajina leader Milan Martić.[20] In Bosnia, the SDG notably fought in battles in and around Zvornik, Bijeljina and Brčko, mostly against Bosniak and Bosnian Croat paramilitary groups, including killings of civilians.

In late 1995, Ražnatović's troops fought in the area of Banja Luka, Sanski Most and Prijedor. In October 1995, he left Sanski Most as the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) reclaimed the city.[21]

Ražnatović personally led most of the operations, and rewarded his most efficient officers and soldiers with ranks, medals and eventually looted goods. Several younger soldiers were rewarded for their actions in and around Kopački Rit and Bijelo Brdo. Ražnatović reportedly sent one of his most trusted men, Radovan Stanišić, to Italy to start a relationship with Camorra boss Francesco Schiavone. According to Roberto Saviano, Schiavone eased arms smuggling to Serbia by stopping the Albanian mobsters' blocking of weapons routes, and helped money transfer into Serbia in the form of humanitarian aid amid the international sanctions. In exchange, the Camorra acquired companies, enterprises, shops and farms in Serbia at optimal prices.[22]

Ražnatović has been accused of kidnapping Serb refugees who had fled to Serbia from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and forcing them into conscription.[23] After Operation Storm in Croatia resulted in the collapse of the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) and exodus of Serb refugees fleeing to Serbia, the Serbian Interior Ministry rounded up over 5,000 refugees to conscript into the Serb Volunteer Guard (SDG).[24] Military-aged men were forcibly rounded up after arriving in Serbia by local police and then sent to detention camp in Erdut against their will and without informing their families.[25] Once in Erdut, the refugees' heads were shaved and all valuables were confiscated. The men were then subjected to days of physical and psychological torture from the SDG guards, which included extreme physical exercises, routine beatings, and often being subjected to humiliating acts.[26] Ražnatović had been giving speeches accusing the refugees of being cowards and traitors, blaming them for the loss of RSK.[26] Belgrade's Humanitarian Law Center has represented over 100 people suing the state of Serbia for forced mobilisation.[27]

Post-war fame

Ražnatović came to serve as a popular icon for both Serbs and their enemies. For some Serbs he was a patriot and folk hero, while serving as an object of hatred and fear to Croats and Bosniaks.

In the postwar period after the Dayton agreement was signed, Ražnatović returned to his interests in sport and private business. The SDG was officially disbanded in April 1996, with the threat of being reactivated in case of war. In June of that year he took over a second division soccer team, FK Obilić, which he soon turned into a top caliber club, even winning the 1997–98 Yugoslav league championship.

According to Franklin Foer, in his book How Soccer Explains the World, Ražnatović threatened players on opposing teams if they scored against Obilić.[28] This threat was underlined by the thousands of SDG veterans that filled his team's home field, chanting threats, and on occasion pointing pistols at opposing players during matches. One player told the British football magazine FourFourTwo that he was locked in a garage when his team played Obilić. Europe's football governing body, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), considered prohibiting Obilić from participation in continental competitions because of its connections to Ražnatović. In response to this, Ražnatović stepped away from the position of president and gave his seat to his wife Svetlana. In a 2006 interview, Dragoslav Šekularac (who was coach of Obilić while Ražnatović was with the club) said claims that Ražnatović verbally and physically assaulted Obilić players were false.[29] Ražnatović was a chairman of the Yugoslav Kickboxing Association.[citation needed]

Kosovo War and NATO bombing

According to chief judge Richard May from the United Kingdom, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia issued an indictment against Ražnatović on 30 September 1997 for war crimes of genocide or massacre against the Bosnian Muslim population, crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions.[30] The warrant was not made public until 31 March 1999, a week after the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia had begun, as intervention in the Kosovo War (1998–99). Ražnatović's indictment was made public by the UN court's chief prosecutor Louise Arbour.[citation needed]

In the week before the start of NATO bombing, as the Rambouillet talks collapsed, Ražnatović appeared at the Hyatt hotel in Belgrade, where most Western journalists were staying, and ordered all of them to leave Serbia.[31]

During the NATO bombing, Ražnatović denied the war crime charges against him in interviews he gave to foreign reporters. Ražnatović accused NATO of bombing civilians and creating refugees of all ethnicities, and stated that he would deploy his troops only in the case of a direct NATO ground invasion. After the U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, which killed three journalists and led to a diplomatic row between the United States and the People's Republic of China, the British Observer and Danish Politiken newspapers claimed the building might have been targeted because the office of the Chinese military attaché was being used by Ražnatović to communicate and transmit messages to his paramilitary group, the Tigers, in Kosovo. As neither paper offered any proof for this claim it was largely ignored by the media.[32]

During an interview with Western journalists, while the three-month period of the NATO bombing was ongoing, Ražnatović showed a small rubber part of the F-117A downed by the Yugoslav army (one of only five NATO aircraft destroyed, on 38,000 sorties),[33] which he had taken as "a souvenir"; Yugoslav media falsely proclaimed that Ražnatović had downed the stealth fighter.[34]

ICTY indictment

In March 1999, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) announced that Ražnatović had been indicted by the Tribunal, although the indictment was only made public after his assassination. According to the indictment, Ražnatović was to have been prosecuted on 24 charges of crimes against humanity (Art. 5 ICTY Statute), grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions (Art. 2 ICTY Statute) and violations of the laws of war (Art. 3 ICTY Statute), for the following acts:[35]

  • Forcibly detaining approximately thirty Muslim Bosniak men, in an inadequately ventilated room of approximately five square metres in size.
  • Transporting twelve non-Serb men from Sanski Most to an isolated location in the village of Trnova and shooting them, killing eleven of the men and critically wounding the twelfth.
  • Transporting approximately sixty-seven Bosniak Muslim men from Sanski Most, Šehovci, and Pobriježe to an isolated location in the village of Sasina, and shooting them, killing sixty-five of the captives and wounding two survivors.
  • Forcibly detaining approximately thirty-five Muslim Bosnian men in an inadequately ventilated room of about five square metres in size, withholding from them food and water, resulting in the deaths of two men.[citation needed]

Assassination

 
Hotel Continental

Ražnatović was assassinated, on Saturday, 15 January 2000, 17:05 GMT, in the lobby of the New Belgrade's hotel Continental (or Intercontinental),[36] in a location where he was surrounded by other hotel guests. The killer, Dobrosav Gavrić, a 23-year-old junior police mobile brigade member, had ties to the underworld and was on sick leave at the time.[37] He walked up alone toward his target from behind. Ražnatović was sitting and chatting with two friends and, according to BBC Radio, was filling out a betting slip. Gavrić waited for a few minutes, calmly walked up behind the party, and rapidly fired a succession of bullets from his CZ-99 pistol. Ražnatović was hit in his left eye and became unconscious on the spot.[38][39] His bodyguard Zvonko Mateović put him into a car, and rushed him to a hospital; he died on the way.[40]

According to his widow Svetlana, Ražnatović died in her arms as they were driving to the hospital. His companions Milenko Mandić, a business manager, and Dragan Garić, a police inspector, were also shot dead by Gavrić, who in turn was shot and wounded by Mateović. A female bystander was also seriously wounded in the shootout. After complicated surgery, Gavrić survived, but was disabled from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair.[41]

 
Ražnatović's grave

A memorial ceremony in Ražnatović's honour was held on 19 January 2000, with writer Branislav Crnčević, Yugoslav Left (JUL) official Aleksandar Vulin, singers Oliver Mandić, Toni Montano, and Zoran Kalezić, along with the entire first team of FK Obilić, including club director Dragoslav Šekularac, in attendance.[42]

Željko Ražnatović was buried at the Belgrade New Cemetery with military honours by his volunteers[43] and with funeral rites on 20 January 2000. Around 10,000 people attended the funeral.[44][45]

Trials

Dobrosav Gavrić pleaded not guilty but was convicted and sentenced to 19 years in prison. His accomplices received from 3 to 15 years each, after a year-long trial in 2002. However, the district court verdict was overturned by the Supreme Court because of "lack of evidence and vagueness of the first trial process". A new trial was conducted in 2006, ending on 9 October 2006 with guilty verdicts upheld for Gavrić as well as his accomplices, Milan Đuričić and Dragan Nikolić. Gavrić was sentenced to 30 years in prison, as well as Milan Djurišić and Dragan Nikolić, for murder in complicity.[46]

Prior to carrying out his sentence, however, Gavrić obtained a passport from Bosnia and Herzegonvina under the name Sasa Kovacevic and fled Serbia. In March 2011, he was driving a crime boss, Cyril Beeka, in Cape Town, South Africa when a gunman on a motorbike opened fire on them, killing Beeka and wounding Gavrić. Cocaine was found in the vehicle they were in, leading to Gavrić being fingerprinted and his true identity discovered. Since that time, he has been incarcerated in South Africa and fighting his extradition to Serbia where his 2006 sentence awaits him. As of February 2021, he is still fighting his extradition to Serbia in South African courts.[47]

Personal life

Željko Ražnatović fathered nine children by five different women.[48] His eldest son Mihajlo was born in Gothenburg, in 1975, from a relationship with a Swedish woman. In 1992, 17-year-old Mihajlo decided to move to Serbia to live with his father. During this time the teenager was photographed wearing the uniform of his father's paramilitary unit during the Yugoslav Wars and according to a Swedish tabloid report the youngster participated in combat operations in Srebrenica.[49] Mihajlo has since lived in Belgrade where he played for the Red Star Belgrade ice-hockey club off and on between 2000 and 2009, also representing Serbia-Montenegro on the national team level between 2002 and 2004.[50] During this time he also ran a sushi restaurant in Belgrade called Iki Bar and dated Macedonian pop singer Karolina Gočeva.[51] He left Serbia after that. In 2013 he was in the news in Serbia again following the conclusion of a court case that had dragged on since 2005 over Ražnatović's failure to meet the repayment terms on a RSD1.1 million car loan he took out in 2002 from Komercijalna Banka. After continually failing to meet his monthly payments, the bank wanted the loan paid off in full in August 2005, and two years later took him to court. In June 2010 he was ordered to pay RSD3.3 million based upon the interest on the original loan.[52] In the end, the verdict stated he owed the bank RSD2.9 million.[53]

In June 1994, sometime after her separation from Željko Ražnatović, Natalija Martinović and their four children left Serbia and moved to Athens, Greece, where Željko bought them an apartment in the suburb of Glyfada. After his assassination, Martinović disputed his will,[54][55] claiming that Svetlana Veličković, his second[citation needed] wife, doctored it. In May 2000, she sued Svetlana over Željko's assets, including the villa at Ljutice Bogdana Street in which he and Svetlana lived (and where Svetlana continues to reside), claiming it was built with funds from a bank loan Martinović and Ražnatović took out in 1985.[56] The court eventually ruled against Martinović.[57] The court agreed with her assertions that the villa was built with money from a 1985 bank loan taken out by her and Ražnatović, but ruled she had forfeited any rights in future division of that asset when she signed the property over to Ražnatović in 1994 before moving to Greece.[citation needed]

In 2012, Željko Ražnatović's son (by his first wife) Vojin Martinović – again accused Svetlana of falsifying his father's will.[58][better source needed] In response, Željko Ražnatović's former associate Borislav Pelević said that the villa at Ljutice Bogdana Street was not mentioned in the will as he had already signed it over to his second wife.[59]

Arkan and Ceca have a daughter and a son.Their daughter Anastasija Ražnatović sings on her mother's label, and publishes the songs on YouTube.[60]

In popular culture

  • History Channel's 2003 documentary Targeted includes a part on Željko Ražnatović, Baby Face Psycho.[61]
  • In the 2008 Serbian film The Tour, a group of Serbian actors go on a tour in war-torn Bosnia. Among other factions, they meet an unnamed paramilitary unit wearing insignia similar to those of the Serb Volunteer Guard. Unit's commander (played by Sergej Trifunović) is possibly based on Željko Ražnatović.[citation needed]
  • In the 2014 Serbian docu-drama series Dosije: Beogradski klanovi, one of the episodes tells the story of Željko Ražnatović.[citation needed]
  • Jormugand character Dragan Nikolaevich is based on Željko Ražnatović.[citation needed]

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  44. ^ "Warlord, Now a Serbian Patriot, Is Buried". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  45. ^ "Arkan buried: 'Tigers' militia salute Serb warlord". the Guardian. 21 January 2000. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  46. ^ Sedam godina od ubistva Arkana; mondo.rs, 15 January 2007.
  47. ^ Dolley, Caryn (10 February 2021). "UNDERWORLD SAGA: A jailed Serbian assassin's 10-year battle against extradition from SA – and his failed bids for freedom". Daily Maverick. from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  48. ^ Tomislav Nikolić. . Kurir-info.rs. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  49. ^ "De skulle avrätta Srebrenica-fångar". Expressen.se. 11 July 2005. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  50. ^ "Mihajlo Raznatovic". Eliteprospects.com. 10 March 1975. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
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  61. ^ Targeted. WorldCat. 2003. OCLC 54754817.

Biographies

  • Stewart, Christopher S. (8 January 2008). Hunting the Tiger: The Fast Life and Violent Death of the Balkans' Most Dangerous Man. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0-312-35606-4.
  • Vojin Ražnatović (4 July 2014). Stories About My Father: An Intimate Portrayal Of Europe's Most Controversial Paramilitary Commander. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1494311209.
  • Marko Lopušina (2001). Komandant Arkan (in Serbian). Čačak: Legenda. OCLC 48273593.
  • Živorad Lazić. Arkane, Srbine! (in Serbian). Belgrade: Grafiprof.
  • Vladan Dinić. Arkan, ni živ ni mrtav (in Serbian). Belgrade.

Interviews

  • Interview with Jim Laurie, 23 December 1991. Video on YouTube
  • Interview with local Bosnian Serb TV after takeover of Bijeljina, 1992. Video on YouTube (in Serbian)
  • Interview with RTV BK, 20 July 1997. Video on YouTube (in Serbian)
  • Interview with BBC, 1999. Video on YouTube (in German and Serbian)
  • Interview with ABC, 6 April 1999.
  • Interview with British reporter John Simpson, March 1999. Video on YouTube
  • Interview during NATO bombings, 1999. Video on YouTube (in Serbian)
  • Interview with B92, April 1999. Video on YouTube (in Serbian)

Further reading

  • Tufegdžić, Vojislav (2015). Vidimo se u čitulji - 20 godina posle (in Serbian). Oberon media. ISBN 978-86-80310-00-8.
  • Lobby, Marc (2006). Pavlović, Milica (ed.). Tajne službe Srbije, 1945-2005 (in Serbian). Политика. ISBN 9788633127493.
  • Čolović, Ivan (1995). "Od Delija do Tigrova". Erasmus – časopis za kulturu demokracije (in Serbo-Croatian). 10: 60–62.
  • Mahkovic, Teja (2016). "Sodelovanje obveščevalno-varnostnih služb s kriminalci: študija primera Arkan". Diss. (in Slovenian). University of Maribor, Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security.
  • Todorovic, Alex, and Kevin Whitelaw. "A mobster, a robber, a Serbian hero." US News And World Report 31 January 2000.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Željko Ražnatović.
  • 'Arkan's Paramilitaries: Tigers Who Escaped Justice' – Balkan Insight, 8 December 2014
  • 'Gangster's life of Serb warlord' – BBC News, 15 January 2000
  • 'Arkan: Underworld boss of Milošević's murder squad' – The Guardian, 19 January 2000
  • 'Blood and Honey – A Balkan War Journal' – NPR, February 2001
  • 'Dosije Arkan' 18 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine – Vreme, November 2008

January 09, 2023
arkan, other, uses, disambiguation, Željko, ražnatović, serbian, cyrillic, Жељко, Ражнатовић, pronounced, ʒêːʎko, raʒnâːtoʋitɕ, april, 1952, january, 2000, better, known, serbian, cyrillic, Аркан, serbian, mobster, politician, sports, administrator, paramilita. For other uses see Arkan disambiguation Zeljko Raznatovic Serbian Cyrillic Zheљko Razhnatoviћ pronounced ʒeːʎko raʒnaːtoʋitɕ 17 April 1952 15 January 2000 better known as Arkan Serbian Cyrillic Arkan was a Serbian mobster politician sports administrator paramilitary commander and head of the Serb paramilitary force called the Serb Volunteer Guard during the Yugoslav Wars Zeljko RaznatovicZheљko RazhnatoviћRaznatovic and Tigers Member of the National AssemblyIn office 25 January 1993 20 October 1993PresidentZoran LilicZoran AranđelovicPersonal detailsBorn 1952 04 17 17 April 1952Brezice PR Slovenia FPR YugoslaviaDied15 January 2000 2000 01 15 aged 47 Belgrade Serbia FR YugoslaviaCause of deathGunshot wounds 1 Resting placeBelgrade New CemeteryNationalitySerbian clarification needed YugoslavianPolitical partyParty of Serbian UnitySpouse s Natalija Martinovic div 1994 Svetlana Velickovic m 1995 wbr Children9RelativesVeljko Raznatovic father NicknameArkanCriminal informationCriminal chargesee ICTY indictment section belowPenaltyNo assassinated He was on Interpol s most wanted list in the 1970s and 1980s for robberies and murders committed in a number of countries across Europe and was later indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for crimes against humanity Up until his assassination in January 2000 Raznatovic was the most powerful organized crime figure in the Balkans Contents 1 Early life 2 Criminal career 2 1 Western Europe 2 2 Return to Yugoslavia 3 Yugoslav Wars 3 1 Early 3 2 War 4 Post war fame 5 Kosovo War and NATO bombing 6 ICTY indictment 7 Assassination 7 1 Trials 8 Personal life 9 In popular culture 10 References 11 Biographies 12 Interviews 13 Further reading 14 External linksEarly life EditZeljko Raznatovic was born in Brezice a small border town in Lower Styria PR Slovenia FPR Yugoslavia His father Veljko was born in Rijeka Crnojevica near Cetinje and had taken part in the Partisan liberation of Pristina Kosovo during World War II 2 unreliable source Later on Veljko served as a decorated officer in the SFR Yugoslav Air Force being highly ranked for his notable involvement in World War II Veljko was stationed in Slovenian Styria at the time when his fourth child Zeljko was born 3 Infant Zeljko spent part of his childhood in Zagreb SR Croatia and Pancevo SR Serbia before his father s job eventually took the family to the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade SR Serbia which is considered his hometown 4 He grew up with three older sisters in a strict militaristic patriarchal household with regular physical abuse from his father In a 1991 interview he recalled He didn t really hit me in a classical sense he d basically grab me and slam me against the floor 5 In his youth Raznatovic aspired to become a pilot as his father had been Due to the highly demanding and significant positions of his parents there appeared to be very little time in which a bond was able to be established between parents and children Raznatovic s parents eventually divorced during his teenage years 4 Teenaged Raznatovic was arrested for the first time in 1966 for snatching women s purses around Tasmajdan Park 6 spending a year at a juvenile detention center not far from Belgrade His father then sent him to the seaside town of Kotor SR Montenegro in order to join the Yugoslav Navy but young Raznatovic had other plans ending up in Paris at the age of fifteen In 1969 he was arrested by French police and deported home where he was sentenced to three years at the detention center in Valjevo for several burglaries During this time he organized his own gang in the prison 4 In his youth Raznatovic was a ward of his father s friend 7 page needed the Slovenian politician and Federal Minister of the Interior Stane Dolanc 8 Dolanc was chief of the State Security Administration UDBA and a close associate of President Josip Broz Tito Whenever Raznatovic was in trouble Dolanc helped him allegedly as a reward for his services to the UDBA as seen in the escape from the Lugano prison in 1981 Dolanc is quoted as having said One Arkan is worth more than the whole UDBA 8 Criminal career EditWestern Europe Edit In 1972 aged 20 Raznatovic migrated to Western Europe 6 Abroad he was introduced to and kept contact with many well known criminals from Yugoslavia such as Ljuba Zemunac Ranko Rubezic Đorđe Giska Bozovic Goran Vukovic etc all of whom were also occasionally contracted by the UDBA and all of whom were since assassinated or otherwise killed Raznatovic took the nickname Arkan from one of his forged passports On 28 December 1973 he was arrested in Belgium following a bank robbery and was sentenced to ten years in prison 6 Raznatovic managed to escape from the Verviers prison on 4 July 1979 6 Although he was apprehended in the Netherlands on 24 October 1979 the few months he was free were enough for at least two more armed robberies in Sweden and three more in the Netherlands Serving a seven year sentence at a prison in Amsterdam Raznatovic pulled off another escape on 8 May 1981 after someone slipped him a gun Wasting no time more robberies followed this time in West Germany where after less than a month of freedom he was arrested in Frankfurt on 5 June 1981 following a jewellery store stickup In the ensuing shootout with police he was lightly wounded resulting in his placement in the prison hospital ward Looser security allowed Raznatovic to escape again only four days later on 9 June supposedly by jumping from the window beating up the first passerby and stealing his clothing before disappearing 6 His final European arrest occurred in Basel Switzerland during a routine traffic check on 15 February 1983 However he managed to escape again within months this time from Thorberg prison on 27 April It is widely speculated that Raznatovic was closely affiliated with the UDBA throughout his criminal career abroad 6 He had convictions or warrants in Belgium bank robberies prison escape the Netherlands armed robberies prison escape Sweden twenty burglaries seven bank robberies prison escape attempted murder 9 West Germany armed robberies prison escape Austria Switzerland armed robberies prison escape and Italy Return to Yugoslavia Edit Raznatovic returned to Belgrade in May 1983 continuing his criminal career by managing a number of illegal activities In November of that year six months after his return a bank in Zagreb was robbed with the thieves leaving a rose on the counter allegedly Raznatovic s signature from his robberies in Western Europe 6 Looking to question Raznatovic about his whereabouts during the robbery two policemen members of the Secretariat of Internal Affairs SUP Tenth department from the Belgrade municipality of Palilula showed up in civilian clothing at his mother s apartment on 27 March Street in Belgrade 6 Raznatovic happened to not be home at the moment so the policemen introduced themselves to his mother as friends of her son looking to return a cash debt they owed him and asked the woman if they could wait for him to return to the apartment Raznatovic s mother phoned him to say that two unknown males waited for him 6 Raznatovic showed up with a revolver and proceeded to shoot and wound both policemen He was detained immediately however barely 48 hours later he was released The occurrence made it clear to all observers especially his criminal rivals that he enjoyed protection from the highest echelons of the Yugoslav state security establishment Raznatovic spent the mid 1980s running the Amadeus discotheque together with Zika Zivac and Tapi Malesevic Located in the Tasmajdan neighbourhood the nightclub was reportedly another perk of their contractual work for the UDBA 6 Moreover Raznatovic could be seen driving around Belgrade in a pink Cadillac and gambling on roulette in casinos all over the country from Belgrade Hotel Slavija and nearby Pancevo to Sveti Stefan Hotel Maestral on the Milocer beach and Portoroz Hotel Metropol 6 An avid gambler following a private game of poker in an apartment at Ive Lole Ribara Street in Belgrade Raznatovic got into an elevator altercation with a tenant from the apartment building reportedly breaking the man s arm after beating him with a gun Raznatovic could not avoid being charged this time and the trial saw a notable exchange between him and the judge during the pre session identification Raznatovic stated he was an employee of the Secretariat of Internal Affairs SUP When this was challenged by the prosecutor Raznatovic produced a document summarizing a mortgage loan he obtained from the UDBA for his house at Ljutice Bogdana Street He ended up receiving a six month sentence which he served at the Belgrade Central Prison 6 Yugoslav Wars EditEarly Edit Only days after the 1990 Croatian multi party election Raznatovic who was the leader of the Delije hooligan supporters of the football club Red Star Belgrade was present at the away game against Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb at Stadion Maksimir on 13 May a match that ended in the infamous Dinamo Red Star riot 10 Raznatovic and the Delije consisting of 1 500 people were involved in a massive fight with the home team s football hooligans 11 On 11 October 1990 as the political situation in Yugoslavia became tense Raznatovic created a paramilitary group named the Serb Volunteer Guard SDG Raznatovic was the supreme commander of the unit which was primarily made up of members of the Delije and his personal friends 12 13 14 In late October 1990 Raznatovic traveled to Knin in Croatia to meet representatives of the Republic of Serbian Krajina a Serb break away region that sought to remain in FR Yugoslavia as opposed to the Croatian government that seceded On 29 November Croatian police arrested him at the Croatian Bosnian border crossing Dvor na Uni along with local Dusan Caric and Belgraders Dusan Bandic and Zoran Stevanovic Raznatovic s entourage was sent to Sisak and was charged with conspiracy to overthrow the newly formed Croatian state Raznatovic was sentenced to twenty months in jail He was released from Zagreb s Remetinec prison on 14 June 1991 It has been claimed that the Croatian and Serbian governments agreed on a DM1 million settlement for his release 15 In July 1991 Raznatovic stayed for some time at the Cetinje monastery with Metropolitan Amfilohije Radovic His group of men fully armed were allowed to enter the monastery where they served as security 16 17 Raznatovic s group traveled from Cetinje to the Siege of Dubrovnik On his return from Dubrovnik he was again a guest at Cetinje 16 War Edit This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed May 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message The SDG acronym for Srpska dobrovoljacka garda lit Serb ian volunteerly guard also known as Arkan s Tigers was organized as a paramilitary force supporting the Serb armies set up in a former military facility in Erdut The force led by Raznatovic and Milorad Ulemek Legija consisted of a core of 200 men and perhaps totaled no more than 500 to 1 000 but was much feared by the public 18 Under Arkan s command the SDG massacred hundreds of people in eastern Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina 19 It saw action from mid 1991 until late 1995 and was supplied and equipped privately by the reserves of the Serbian police force or through capturing enemy arms When the Croatian War of Independence broke out in 1991 the SDG was active in the Vukovar region committing crimes against Croat and Hungarian civilians in Dalj Erdut Tenja and other areas After the Bosnian War broke out in April 1992 the unit moved between the Croatian and Bosnian fronts engaging in multiple instances of ethnic cleansing by killing and forcefully deporting mostly Bosniak civilians In Croatia it fought in various areas in SAO Eastern Slavonia Baranja and Western Syrmia Serbian Krajina Raznatovic reportedly had a dispute over military operations with Krajina leader Milan Martic 20 In Bosnia the SDG notably fought in battles in and around Zvornik Bijeljina and Brcko mostly against Bosniak and Bosnian Croat paramilitary groups including killings of civilians In late 1995 Raznatovic s troops fought in the area of Banja Luka Sanski Most and Prijedor In October 1995 he left Sanski Most as the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ARBiH reclaimed the city 21 Raznatovic personally led most of the operations and rewarded his most efficient officers and soldiers with ranks medals and eventually looted goods Several younger soldiers were rewarded for their actions in and around Kopacki Rit and Bijelo Brdo Raznatovic reportedly sent one of his most trusted men Radovan Stanisic to Italy to start a relationship with Camorra boss Francesco Schiavone According to Roberto Saviano Schiavone eased arms smuggling to Serbia by stopping the Albanian mobsters blocking of weapons routes and helped money transfer into Serbia in the form of humanitarian aid amid the international sanctions In exchange the Camorra acquired companies enterprises shops and farms in Serbia at optimal prices 22 Raznatovic has been accused of kidnapping Serb refugees who had fled to Serbia from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and forcing them into conscription 23 After Operation Storm in Croatia resulted in the collapse of the Republic of Serbian Krajina RSK and exodus of Serb refugees fleeing to Serbia the Serbian Interior Ministry rounded up over 5 000 refugees to conscript into the Serb Volunteer Guard SDG 24 Military aged men were forcibly rounded up after arriving in Serbia by local police and then sent to detention camp in Erdut against their will and without informing their families 25 Once in Erdut the refugees heads were shaved and all valuables were confiscated The men were then subjected to days of physical and psychological torture from the SDG guards which included extreme physical exercises routine beatings and often being subjected to humiliating acts 26 Raznatovic had been giving speeches accusing the refugees of being cowards and traitors blaming them for the loss of RSK 26 Belgrade s Humanitarian Law Center has represented over 100 people suing the state of Serbia for forced mobilisation 27 Post war fame EditRaznatovic came to serve as a popular icon for both Serbs and their enemies For some Serbs he was a patriot and folk hero while serving as an object of hatred and fear to Croats and Bosniaks In the postwar period after the Dayton agreement was signed Raznatovic returned to his interests in sport and private business The SDG was officially disbanded in April 1996 with the threat of being reactivated in case of war In June of that year he took over a second division soccer team FK Obilic which he soon turned into a top caliber club even winning the 1997 98 Yugoslav league championship According to Franklin Foer in his book How Soccer Explains the World Raznatovic threatened players on opposing teams if they scored against Obilic 28 This threat was underlined by the thousands of SDG veterans that filled his team s home field chanting threats and on occasion pointing pistols at opposing players during matches One player told the British football magazine FourFourTwo that he was locked in a garage when his team played Obilic Europe s football governing body the Union of European Football Associations UEFA considered prohibiting Obilic from participation in continental competitions because of its connections to Raznatovic In response to this Raznatovic stepped away from the position of president and gave his seat to his wife Svetlana In a 2006 interview Dragoslav Sekularac who was coach of Obilic while Raznatovic was with the club said claims that Raznatovic verbally and physically assaulted Obilic players were false 29 Raznatovic was a chairman of the Yugoslav Kickboxing Association citation needed Kosovo War and NATO bombing EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed December 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message According to chief judge Richard May from the United Kingdom the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia issued an indictment against Raznatovic on 30 September 1997 for war crimes of genocide or massacre against the Bosnian Muslim population crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions 30 The warrant was not made public until 31 March 1999 a week after the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia had begun as intervention in the Kosovo War 1998 99 Raznatovic s indictment was made public by the UN court s chief prosecutor Louise Arbour citation needed In the week before the start of NATO bombing as the Rambouillet talks collapsed Raznatovic appeared at the Hyatt hotel in Belgrade where most Western journalists were staying and ordered all of them to leave Serbia 31 During the NATO bombing Raznatovic denied the war crime charges against him in interviews he gave to foreign reporters Raznatovic accused NATO of bombing civilians and creating refugees of all ethnicities and stated that he would deploy his troops only in the case of a direct NATO ground invasion After the U S bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade which killed three journalists and led to a diplomatic row between the United States and the People s Republic of China the British Observer and Danish Politiken newspapers claimed the building might have been targeted because the office of the Chinese military attache was being used by Raznatovic to communicate and transmit messages to his paramilitary group the Tigers in Kosovo As neither paper offered any proof for this claim it was largely ignored by the media 32 During an interview with Western journalists while the three month period of the NATO bombing was ongoing Raznatovic showed a small rubber part of the F 117A downed by the Yugoslav army one of only five NATO aircraft destroyed on 38 000 sorties 33 which he had taken as a souvenir Yugoslav media falsely proclaimed that Raznatovic had downed the stealth fighter 34 ICTY indictment EditIn March 1999 the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ICTY announced that Raznatovic had been indicted by the Tribunal although the indictment was only made public after his assassination According to the indictment Raznatovic was to have been prosecuted on 24 charges of crimes against humanity Art 5 ICTY Statute grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions Art 2 ICTY Statute and violations of the laws of war Art 3 ICTY Statute for the following acts 35 Forcibly detaining approximately thirty Muslim Bosniak men in an inadequately ventilated room of approximately five square metres in size Transporting twelve non Serb men from Sanski Most to an isolated location in the village of Trnova and shooting them killing eleven of the men and critically wounding the twelfth Transporting approximately sixty seven Bosniak Muslim men from Sanski Most Sehovci and Pobrijeze to an isolated location in the village of Sasina and shooting them killing sixty five of the captives and wounding two survivors Forcibly detaining approximately thirty five Muslim Bosnian men in an inadequately ventilated room of about five square metres in size withholding from them food and water resulting in the deaths of two men citation needed Assassination Edit Hotel Continental Raznatovic was assassinated on Saturday 15 January 2000 17 05 GMT in the lobby of the New Belgrade s hotel Continental or Intercontinental 36 in a location where he was surrounded by other hotel guests The killer Dobrosav Gavric a 23 year old junior police mobile brigade member had ties to the underworld and was on sick leave at the time 37 He walked up alone toward his target from behind Raznatovic was sitting and chatting with two friends and according to BBC Radio was filling out a betting slip Gavric waited for a few minutes calmly walked up behind the party and rapidly fired a succession of bullets from his CZ 99 pistol Raznatovic was hit in his left eye and became unconscious on the spot 38 39 His bodyguard Zvonko Mateovic put him into a car and rushed him to a hospital he died on the way 40 According to his widow Svetlana Raznatovic died in her arms as they were driving to the hospital His companions Milenko Mandic a business manager and Dragan Garic a police inspector were also shot dead by Gavric who in turn was shot and wounded by Mateovic A female bystander was also seriously wounded in the shootout After complicated surgery Gavric survived but was disabled from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair 41 Raznatovic s grave A memorial ceremony in Raznatovic s honour was held on 19 January 2000 with writer Branislav Crncevic Yugoslav Left JUL official Aleksandar Vulin singers Oliver Mandic Toni Montano and Zoran Kalezic along with the entire first team of FK Obilic including club director Dragoslav Sekularac in attendance 42 Zeljko Raznatovic was buried at the Belgrade New Cemetery with military honours by his volunteers 43 and with funeral rites on 20 January 2000 Around 10 000 people attended the funeral 44 45 Trials Edit Dobrosav Gavric pleaded not guilty but was convicted and sentenced to 19 years in prison His accomplices received from 3 to 15 years each after a year long trial in 2002 However the district court verdict was overturned by the Supreme Court because of lack of evidence and vagueness of the first trial process A new trial was conducted in 2006 ending on 9 October 2006 with guilty verdicts upheld for Gavric as well as his accomplices Milan Đuricic and Dragan Nikolic Gavric was sentenced to 30 years in prison as well as Milan Djurisic and Dragan Nikolic for murder in complicity 46 Prior to carrying out his sentence however Gavric obtained a passport from Bosnia and Herzegonvina under the name Sasa Kovacevic and fled Serbia In March 2011 he was driving a crime boss Cyril Beeka in Cape Town South Africa when a gunman on a motorbike opened fire on them killing Beeka and wounding Gavric Cocaine was found in the vehicle they were in leading to Gavric being fingerprinted and his true identity discovered Since that time he has been incarcerated in South Africa and fighting his extradition to Serbia where his 2006 sentence awaits him As of February 2021 update he is still fighting his extradition to Serbia in South African courts 47 Personal life EditZeljko Raznatovic fathered nine children by five different women 48 His eldest son Mihajlo was born in Gothenburg in 1975 from a relationship with a Swedish woman In 1992 17 year old Mihajlo decided to move to Serbia to live with his father During this time the teenager was photographed wearing the uniform of his father s paramilitary unit during the Yugoslav Wars and according to a Swedish tabloid report the youngster participated in combat operations in Srebrenica 49 Mihajlo has since lived in Belgrade where he played for the Red Star Belgrade ice hockey club off and on between 2000 and 2009 also representing Serbia Montenegro on the national team level between 2002 and 2004 50 During this time he also ran a sushi restaurant in Belgrade called Iki Bar and dated Macedonian pop singer Karolina Goceva 51 He left Serbia after that In 2013 he was in the news in Serbia again following the conclusion of a court case that had dragged on since 2005 over Raznatovic s failure to meet the repayment terms on a RSD1 1 million car loan he took out in 2002 from Komercijalna Banka After continually failing to meet his monthly payments the bank wanted the loan paid off in full in August 2005 and two years later took him to court In June 2010 he was ordered to pay RSD3 3 million based upon the interest on the original loan 52 In the end the verdict stated he owed the bank RSD2 9 million 53 In June 1994 sometime after her separation from Zeljko Raznatovic Natalija Martinovic and their four children left Serbia and moved to Athens Greece where Zeljko bought them an apartment in the suburb of Glyfada After his assassination Martinovic disputed his will 54 55 claiming that Svetlana Velickovic his second citation needed wife doctored it In May 2000 she sued Svetlana over Zeljko s assets including the villa at Ljutice Bogdana Street in which he and Svetlana lived and where Svetlana continues to reside claiming it was built with funds from a bank loan Martinovic and Raznatovic took out in 1985 56 The court eventually ruled against Martinovic 57 The court agreed with her assertions that the villa was built with money from a 1985 bank loan taken out by her and Raznatovic but ruled she had forfeited any rights in future division of that asset when she signed the property over to Raznatovic in 1994 before moving to Greece citation needed In 2012 Zeljko Raznatovic s son by his first wife Vojin Martinovic again accused Svetlana of falsifying his father s will 58 better source needed In response Zeljko Raznatovic s former associate Borislav Pelevic said that the villa at Ljutice Bogdana Street was not mentioned in the will as he had already signed it over to his second wife 59 Arkan and Ceca have a daughter and a son Their daughter Anastasija Raznatovic sings on her mother s label and publishes the songs on YouTube 60 In popular culture EditHistory Channel s 2003 documentary Targeted includes a part on Zeljko Raznatovic Baby Face Psycho 61 In the 2008 Serbian film The Tour a group of Serbian actors go on a tour in war torn Bosnia Among other factions they meet an unnamed paramilitary unit wearing insignia similar to those of the Serb Volunteer Guard Unit s commander played by Sergej Trifunovic is possibly based on Zeljko Raznatovic citation needed In the 2014 Serbian docu drama series Dosije Beogradski klanovi one of the episodes tells the story of Zeljko Raznatovic citation needed Jormugand character Dragan Nikolaevich is based on Zeljko Raznatovic citation needed References Edit Arkan Dead NPR org Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan zivot u trileru 16 Crna Gora moja otadzbina 31 January 2000 Retrieved 25 December 2015 Milos Milikic Mido Za nase nebo Monografija prve klase letaca Vazduhoplovnog ucilista 1945 1947 Belgrade 1995 a b c Internet Svedok 916 Svedok rs Archived from the original on 28 January 2019 Retrieved 1 March 2014 Dada Vujasinovic 8 April 1994 Ratnik ogrezao u svetosavlju duga Retrieved 1 March 2014 a b c d e f g h i j k l Filip Svarm 14 January 2010 Arkanova ostavstina Vreme com Danas Google Boeken 18 December 2009 Retrieved 1 March 2014 a b Partners in Crime The Risks of Symbiosis Between the Security Sector and Organized Crime in Southeast Europe CSD 2004 pp 42 ISBN 978 954 477 115 7 Aftonbladet nyheter Kriget om Kosovo aftonbladet se 31 March 1999 Retrieved 1 March 2014 VIDEO Day When Maksimir Stadium Went up in Flames Dalje com 13 May 2009 Archived from the original on 1 March 2014 Retrieved 1 March 2014 Football is War Tol org 15 March 1999 Retrieved 1 March 2014 Ivan Colovic 2000 Football Hooligans and War Central European University Press Nebojsa Popov Drinka Gojkovic 1999 The Road to War in Serbia Trauma and Catharsis p 388 Central European University Press ISBN 9639116564 Michael A Innes 2006 Bosnian Security after Dayton New Perspectives Contemporary Security Studies p 75 Routledge ISBN 041565369X Hrvatska za Arkana dobila milion maraka Glas javnosti Arhiva glas javnosti rs Retrieved 1 March 2014 in Serbian a b Zvijer iz bezdana e novine com Retrieved 1 March 2014 Kozaci ne obezbeđuju manastir Blic rs Retrieved 1 March 2014 Vasic Yugoslav Army p 134 UN experts Final Report par 92 139 Tony Judt 2006 Postwar A History of Europe Since 1945 chapter XXI Penguin Books ISBN 0143037757 Vreme News Digest Agency No 108 Scc rutgers edu 18 October 1993 Retrieved 1 March 2014 U spomen na ubijene Sanjane Angelfire com Retrieved 1 March 2014 Giuseppe Genna 13 July 2003 Roberto Saviano Scampia Erzegovina Giugenna com Retrieved 1 March 2014 Grihovic Marina October 2001 Serbia Refugee conscripts fight for justice Relief Web Institute for War and Peace Reporting Retrieved 3 January 2022 Forcible mobilisation in Serbia Rat u Srbiji 7 April 2020 Serbia Sent Refugees from Croatia Bosnia to Frontlines Report Detektor BIRN 13 November 2019 Retrieved 3 January 2022 a b Dossier Forcible Mobilisation of Refugees PDF Humanitarian Law Center 2019 Stojanovic Milica 13 November 2019 Serbia Sent Refugees from Croatia Bosnia to Frontlines Report Balkan Insight BIRN Retrieved 3 January 2022 Foer Franklin 2004 How soccer explains the world New York HarperCollins pp 26 27 ISBN 978 0 06 621234 0 Prvoslav Vujcic Urban Book Circle 1 May 2006 Get out of here I am Sekularac Retrieved 28 October 2013 Arbour Louise Prosecutor 23 September 1997 Tribunal against Zeljko Raznatovic also known as Arkan INDICTMENT The Hague International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Archived from the original on 5 December 2004 Retrieved 1 March 2014 Karon Tony 25 March 1999 Serbs Unplug CNN Time Archived from the original on 9 December 2012 Retrieved 1 March 2014 Morning Briefing NATO Press Office 8 May 1999 Retrieved 25 October 2009 Lambeth Benjamin S 2001 Chapter Three The Air War Unfolds PDF NATO s Air War for Kosovo A Strategic and Operational Assessment Report Santa Monica RAND Corporation p 61 ISBN 0 8330 3050 7 Retrieved 2 January 2021 MOGU DA POLOMIM F 117A Evo kako je ARKAN unistio ponos Amerike i nevidljivi bombarder I CAN BREAK THE F 117A Here s how the ARCAN destroyed America s pride and the invisible bomber Telegraf in Bosnian 27 March 2015 Retrieved 25 December 2015 Raznatovic Initial Indictment PDF Retrieved 1 March 2014 BELGRADE WARLORD ARKAN SHOT amp KILLED AP Archive www aparchive com Retrieved 8 November 2022 Three Serbs Arrested in Slaying of Arkan www washingtonpost com Retrieved 8 November 2022 Breaking World Business Sports Entertainment and Video News Archives cnn com Retrieved 1 March 2014 Serbian warlord shot dead BBC News 15 January 2000 Retrieved 1 March 2014 Arkan Dead NPR 15 January 2000 Retrieved 1 March 2014 Gall Carlotta 7 March 2001 Serbian Pop Star Faces Suspected Killer of Her Warlord Husband The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 8 November 2022 Sta je ostalo od Arkanove garde Vreme com 10 April 2014 Arkan Buried in Belgrade AP NEWS Retrieved 7 November 2022 Warlord Now a Serbian Patriot Is Buried archive nytimes com Retrieved 7 November 2022 Arkan buried Tigers militia salute Serb warlord the Guardian 21 January 2000 Retrieved 8 November 2022 Sedam godina od ubistva Arkana mondo rs 15 January 2007 Dolley Caryn 10 February 2021 UNDERWORLD SAGA A jailed Serbian assassin s 10 year battle against extradition from SA and his failed bids for freedom Daily Maverick Archived from the original on 19 December 2022 Retrieved 19 December 2022 Tomislav Nikolic Ameri Kurir Kurir info rs Archived from the original on 7 February 2009 Retrieved 1 March 2014 De skulle avratta Srebrenica fangar Expressen se 11 July 2005 Retrieved 1 March 2014 Mihajlo Raznatovic Eliteprospects com 10 March 1975 Retrieved 1 March 2014 Stara arhiva Blic rs Retrieved 1 March 2014 Stari ALO Sud jurio Arkanovog sina u Cecinoj vili Alo rs 24 July 2012 Archived from the original on 25 August 2012 Retrieved 1 March 2014 Arkanov sin mora da vrati tri miliona dinara Alo rs Archived from the original on 3 February 2014 Retrieved 1 March 2014 Glas javnosti 30 November 2000 a Arhiva glas javnosti rs Retrieved 1 March 2014 Glas javnosti 2 December 2000 Arhiva glas javnosti rs Retrieved 1 March 2014 Glas javnosti 30 November 2000 b Arhiva glas javnosti rs Retrieved 1 March 2014 Portret savremenika Svetlana Ceca Raznatovic Zitije sa pevanjem i pucanjem Vreme com 18 May 2005 Retrieved 1 March 2014 Stari ALO Ceca je lazirala Arkanov testament Alo rs Archived from the original on 22 June 2012 Retrieved 1 March 2014 Cecine vile nema u Arkanovom testamentu Vesti online com Retrieved 1 March 2014 Anastasija za tri godine zaradila 500 000 evra za 7 pesama inkasirala bogatstvo 12 October 2021 Targeted WorldCat 2003 OCLC 54754817 Biographies EditStewart Christopher S 8 January 2008 Hunting the Tiger The Fast Life and Violent Death of the Balkans Most Dangerous Man Thomas Dunne Books ISBN 978 0 312 35606 4 Vojin Raznatovic 4 July 2014 Stories About My Father An Intimate Portrayal Of Europe s Most Controversial Paramilitary Commander CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform ISBN 978 1494311209 Marko Lopusina 2001 Komandant Arkan in Serbian Cacak Legenda OCLC 48273593 Zivorad Lazic Arkane Srbine in Serbian Belgrade Grafiprof Vladan Dinic Arkan ni ziv ni mrtav in Serbian Belgrade Interviews EditInterview with Jim Laurie 23 December 1991 Video on YouTube Interview with local Bosnian Serb TV after takeover of Bijeljina 1992 Video on YouTube in Serbian Interview with RTV BK 20 July 1997 Video on YouTube in Serbian Interview with BBC 1999 Video on YouTube in German and Serbian Interview with ABC 6 April 1999 Interview with British reporter John Simpson March 1999 Video on YouTube Interview during NATO bombings 1999 Video on YouTube in Serbian Interview with B92 April 1999 Video on YouTube in Serbian Further reading EditTufegdzic Vojislav 2015 Vidimo se u citulji 20 godina posle in Serbian Oberon media ISBN 978 86 80310 00 8 Lobby Marc 2006 Pavlovic Milica ed Tajne sluzbe Srbije 1945 2005 in Serbian Politika ISBN 9788633127493 Colovic Ivan 1995 Od Delija do Tigrova Erasmus casopis za kulturu demokracije in Serbo Croatian 10 60 62 Mahkovic Teja 2016 Sodelovanje obvescevalno varnostnih sluzb s kriminalci studija primera Arkan Diss in Slovenian University of Maribor Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security Todorovic Alex and Kevin Whitelaw A mobster a robber a Serbian hero US News And World Report 31 January 2000 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan s Paramilitaries Tigers Who Escaped Justice Balkan Insight 8 December 2014 Gangster s life of Serb warlord BBC News 15 January 2000 Arkan Underworld boss of Milosevic s murder squad The Guardian 19 January 2000 Blood and Honey A Balkan War Journal NPR February 2001 Dosije Arkan Archived 18 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine Vreme November 2008 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Arkan amp oldid 1132114840, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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