Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan, born on April 17, 1952, in Brežice, Slovenia, was the founder and leader of the Serbian Volunteer Guard, a paramilitary unit active during the Yugoslav Wars. He also served as the first president of the Party of Serbian Unity. His life came to a violent end on January 15, 2000, when he was assassinated in the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel in Belgrade.
In September 1997, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague issued an indictment against him, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The indictment, publicly released in January 2001, charged him with 22 criminal offenses, including violations of the Geneva Conventions regarding the protection of civilians during wartime, as well as other breaches of international war laws and customs, particularly relating to events in Sanski Most in September 1995. Due to a series of robberies during the 1970s and 1980s across Western Europe, Interpol issued a red notice for his arrest.
Arkan was the father of nine children, including two with his wife, the popular folk singer Svetlana “Ceca” Ražnatović.
He was of Serbian nationality and Eastern Orthodox faith.
Early Life and Youth
Zeljko Raznatovic was born in 1952 in Brežice, Slovenia. His father, Veljko Ražnatović, was an officer in the Yugoslav Air Force and a pilot during the People’s Liberation Struggle in World War II. At the time of Željko’s birth, Veljko was stationed in Slovenia. The family later moved several times—from Zagreb to Pančevo—before finally settling in Belgrade, where Željko spent his childhood with his three sisters: Biljana, Jasna, and Mima. His mother, Slavka (née Josifović), was known for her tolerant nature, whereas his father was regarded as strict. In an interview, Željko described him as particularly harsh when it came to discipline.
As a young boy, Željko aspired to become a pilot like his father. However, family difficulties, culminating in his parents’ divorce when he was only 12, led him down a path of petty crime by the age of 14. He and a group of peers became known for snatching women’s purses in Tašmajdan Park, which resulted in a one-year stay at a juvenile correctional facility near Belgrade. His father later attempted to reform him by enrolling him in naval training in Kotor, but Željko had other plans—he secretly boarded a ship and fled to Paris, marking the beginning of a tumultuous chapter in his life.
Criminal Record in Europe
In 1972, at the age of 20, Željko moved to Western Europe. There, with the help of infamous Yugoslav criminals such as Ljuba Zemunac, Ranko Rubežić, Đorđe “Griška” Božović, and Goran Vuković, he established his own criminal group. Their operations included bank robberies, jewelry store heists, and car thefts, with stolen vehicles later being resold. Occasionally, Yugoslav intelligence services allegedly employed him for covert operations to eliminate threats to national security.
He was first arrested on December 28, 1973, in Belgium for a bank robbery and sentenced to ten years in prison. However, he escaped and fled to the Netherlands on July 4, 1979, where he continued committing crimes. He was re-arrested on October 24, 1979, after a string of armed robberies in the Netherlands and Sweden. After serving time in Amsterdam, he escaped prison again on May 8, 1981. Later that year, on June 5, he was captured during a robbery in Germany.
Although wounded during the arrest and placed under low-security medical care, he managed to escape four days later by jumping out a window. His final arrest occurred in Basel on February 15, 1983, during a routine police check. On April 27, he escaped again from a prison in Thorberg, Switzerland.
Interpol pursued him for bank robberies and repeated prison escapes. He was wanted in Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. Swedish authorities had sentenced him for twenty robberies, seven bank heists, attempted murder, and additional escapes. He operated under multiple aliases, including Roberto Betega, Paul Betega, Marcel de Kok, Stefan Kartni, Bob Elis, and others.
Return to Yugoslavia
Returning to Belgrade in May 1993, Arkan launched several questionable business ventures using his accumulated wealth. Six months later, a bank in Zagreb was robbed, and the robber left a rose at the scene—an action reminiscent of Arkan’s style. When police visited his mother’s apartment in 27th May Street, he was not found. Upon being informed of the visit, Arkan returned with a firearm and shot both plainclothes officers. Although detained, he was released within 48 hours, raising suspicions of protection by high-level political figures.
In the mid-1980s, Arkan managed the Amadeus nightclub in Tašmajdan with Branko “Žika Živac” Savković and Dragan “Tapi” Malešević. The club allegedly served as a hub for clandestine meetings and major criminal dealings. He drove a Cadillac through Belgrade, Pančevo, Sveti Stefan, and Portorož, gambled in Bečići, and invested in construction projects. He became notorious for violent incidents, including breaking a man’s arm. At one point, Arkan claimed to work for state security and presented documentation proving that his home in Ljutice Bogdana Street was under a government-backed mortgage. He was eventually sentenced to six months in prison, which he served in Belgrade’s Central Prison.
Arkan later became a leading figure among Red Star Belgrade football club supporters. On May 13, 1990, he traveled to Zagreb with the “Delije” supporters for a match against Dinamo Zagreb, which ended in chaos, riots, and police intervention. The match is widely considered a precursor to the Yugoslav Wars. Provoked by anti-Serb chants such as “Kill the Serb” and “Hang the Serbs,” Arkan returned to Belgrade and formed the Serbian Volunteer Guard, primarily composed of Red Star fans, later joined by supporters from other Belgrade clubs.
The War in Bosnia
In late October 1990, Arkan traveled to Knin to meet with officials from the Republic of Serbian Krajina. On November 29 of that year, Croatian police arrested him at the border between Croatia and Bosnia, near Dvor na Uni. He was accompanied by Dušan Carić, a local Serb, and Belgraders Dušan Bandić and Zoran Stefanović. Arkan was dressed in uniform and carried a pistol and a Heckler & Koch rifle. While he had a license for the pistol, he lacked one for the automatic weapon. He was transferred to Sisak, then to Zagreb’s Remetinec prison.
Charged with conspiracy, his legal team included a Serb, a Croat, and a Bosnian Muslim. He was sentenced to 20 months and released on June 14, 1991. Rumors circulated that the Serbian government paid one million Deutsche Marks for his release—claims never officially confirmed. Afterward, Arkan spent time at a monastery in Cetinje, where he worked in security for Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović.
The Serbian Volunteer Guard, known as “Arkan’s Tigers,” began assembling at a former military base in Erdut, eastern Croatia. Initially numbering around 200, the unit grew substantially. Arkan served as the unit’s ideological leader, while Miodrag “Legija” Ulemek handled military training. Arkan later revealed in an interview that he initially financed the Guard himself, with support from Serbs in Serbia and the diaspora. They kept captured weapons and ammunition as war spoils and eventually operated seven tanks, which were later traded for arms.
The unit moved from Bijeljina to other fronts, engaging in battles across Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and the Republic of Serbian Krajina. In 1995, they recaptured areas near Banja Luka, Sanski Most, and Prijedor, though the Bosnian Army later reclaimed Sanski Most. Arkan personally led many of these operations, for which some troops received medals. There were even claims of his involvement with Italian criminal groups to block arms smuggling from Albania—though never substantiated.
Post-War Period
Following the wars, Arkan’s reputation remained deeply polarizing. Some hailed him as a protector of Serbs, while others condemned him as a war profiteer. For many, he was simply feared.
He emerged as a dominant figure in the criminal underworld, respected and untouchable even among fellow criminals. Law enforcement officials, journalists, and insiders acknowledged knowledge of his operations, but a lack of witnesses and evidence meant he was rarely prosecuted.
The Serbian Volunteer Guard disbanded in April 1996. That same year, Arkan took over the football club FK Obilić, which went on to win the national championship in the 1997/1998 season. Some players later claimed Arkan threatened them with violence if they scored against his team.
UEFA eventually banned Obilić from international competitions. Arkan stepped down as club president, handing control to his wife, Ceca. He also held a role in the Kickboxing Federation of Yugoslavia during that time.
Political Career
In the early 1990s, Arkan agreed to represent the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija in the Serbian National Assembly. He served as an MP until 1993, after which he founded the Party of Serbian Unity. In interviews, he stated he created the party to avoid affiliation with either Vuk Drašković’s Serbian Renewal Movement or Vojislav Šešelj’s Serbian Radical Party.
Initially based in Belgrade, the party later relocated its headquarters to Jagodina in 1998. After Arkan’s assassination, Borislav Pelević assumed leadership.
War Crimes Charges
In September 1997, the ICTY indicted Arkan for numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, the indictment remained sealed until March 31, 1999, when then-Chief Prosecutor Louise Arbour announced legal action without revealing details. A year after Arkan’s death, in January 2001, the full indictment was made public. It charged him with 22 counts, including crimes against humanity, violations of the Geneva Conventions, and breaches of the laws and customs of war.
He was particularly held responsible for crimes in Sanski Most in 1995, where his troops allegedly detained, beat, raped, and murdered non-Serb civilians. He was also accused of executing both soldiers and civilians.
Death
On Saturday, January 15, 2000, Željko Ražnatović Arkan was assassinated in the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel in Belgrade at exactly 5:05 PM. The murder was allegedly carried out by Dobrosav Gavrić, a 23-year-old police officer from Loznica, using a CZ-99 pistol. Arkan was shot in the left eye, and two others—his friend and associate Milenko Mandić “Manda” and police inspector Dragan Garić—were also killed.
Arkan’s bodyguard managed to wound Gavrić during his escape, but Gavrić fled the scene with the help of accomplices. Mandić and Garić died at the scene, while Arkan was transported to the Clinical Center of Serbia, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Aftermath and Legacy
Arkan’s funeral was held on January 20, 2000, in Belgrade, attended by thousands of mourners, including political figures, celebrities, and members of his former paramilitary unit. He was buried at the New Cemetery in Belgrade, in a section known as the Alley of the Meritorious Citizens, sparking public controversy given the allegations and accusations surrounding his life.
After his death, his wife, Svetlana Ceca Ražnatović, continued to be a prominent figure in Serbian public life. His children, particularly those he had with Ceca, have also been present in the media spotlight. Over the years, numerous books, documentaries, and films have explored Arkan’s life, presenting various perspectives—some glorifying him as a nationalist icon and others condemning him as a war criminal.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) formally closed the case against Arkan following his death, but his name remains tied to some of the most controversial chapters of the Yugoslav wars. Many of the crimes attributed to the Serbian Volunteer Guard remain under investigation, and his legacy continues to divide public opinion in Serbia and across the former Yugoslavia.
While some view him as a patriot and protector of Serb interests, others see him as a symbol of the brutality and lawlessness of the 1990s. His life story, marked by violence, crime, war, and political ambition, encapsulates the chaotic and turbulent era of Yugoslavia’s dissolution—an era where boundaries between criminal, soldier, and politician were often blurred.
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