Machine Gun Wedding (With Singing)

The groom changed three times that day. He arrived in Ceca's home village of Zitoradje (250 kilometers from Belgrade) at 9 am, dressed in traditional Montenegrin costume, a huge gold cross on his chest and with a Heckler & Koch submachine gun and pistol. Then someone passed him a shotgun. He hit the apple on the roof of her parents' house on the sixth attempt and fired shots into the air to celebrate along with the crowd that had come with him in a 50 car convoy.

The groom then left the party behind and crossed the threshold where he stayed for about two hours. The convoy left for Belgrade in a shower of flowers. They left over 1,000 spent cartridge cases behind them and a damaged power line which someone had cut in half with gunfire leaving the village without electricity for a day.

At two that afternoon, just as protocol demanded, the bride and groom entered the Holy Archangel Gabriel church in Belgrade. The bride was wearing a snow white (some said cocaine white) dress made in Italy. The groom appeared dressed in a colorful (but not regulation) Serbian general's uniform of World War I vintage. Both carried the traditional large white candles in their hands.

The church ceremony was supposed to have been conducted by bishops Vasilije and Lukijan but they were there only as guests and the couple were married by the local priest (allegedly Patriarch Pavle banned them from conducting the ceremony because this is the groom's third marriage and the difference in their ages is not to liking of the church).

They said Yes at the right moment and were blessed with crowns on their heads, drank the cup of wine and circled the church three times ritually.

There was no shooting this time, guests were politely asked not to bring weapons into the church to prevent a repeat of Arkan's previous visits to shrines. The groom set the example; he handed his sword to an aide.

They were congratulated, the bride threw her bouquet and everyone headed for the Intercontinental hotel where a justice of the peace was waiting to perform the civil ceremony. The groom changed into a tuxedo.

That ended the public part of the ceremony and the private celebration started which was organized for the happy couple and 700 close friends by Giovanni Di Stefano, an Italian businessman with a Yugoslav passport and good connections in Colombia.

Journalists were barred from the celebration "to prevent guests from being embarrassed because they're a mixed lot "(meaning the journalists, D.A. note).

The 200-strong security team made sure reporters got nowhere and prevented incidents.

There was a rumor that some of the most important Serbian police officials would be there but the guests were mainly entertainment figures, least of all politicians (with the exception of SPS spokesman Ivica Dacic and the groom's party colleagues).

The whole thing was covered by three TV crews (Reuter, BBC and the local Pink TV). Rumor has it that CNN wanted to be there but couldn't reach an

agreement with the organizers.

Ceca Velickovic

The Bride

Where and when was she born: In Zitoradje, near Prokuplje in June 1973 to father Slobodan and Mother Mirjana.

Education: Veterinary technicians' school in Zitoradje.

How did she begin her career: At age 12 under her father's patronage in a restaurant on the Montenegrin coast. "I sang for friends as a joke. You know, someone always has to start. Mirko (Kodic, folk-composer) heard me and made an offer. He planned my whole career and life that night."

How did daddy react: "Don't parents support their children everywhere in the world? We just help our children's talent along. The fact there's a lot of money to be made in this business isn't our fault."

Her first big hit: The best song at the Ilidza 88 festival.

Her first boyfriend: Red Star soccer player Vladan Lukic.

Why did they split up: "He's a guy who can't stand up to me. I'm a girl who likes someone to fight with me. He just gave up and conceded all the time."

Her first man: Harun Samardzic, a former Borac Banja Luka soccer player and owner of a restaurant in St. Galain, Switzerland. She literally ran away from home with him in 1991 and spent the next 18 months abroad.

How did mummy react: "I can't recover from that blow. I wake up at night and cry. I keep asking myself where we went wrong. I wouldn't wish this on anyone."

How did daddy react: "She could do whatever she wants and go wherever she wants. There were no restrictions. It's a lie that I took all her money: she always had at least 3,000 German marks with her."

How did the press react: In a series of articles which first accused her of immorality, but it later turned out that the problem lay in Samardzic's nationality (Moslem).

How did Ceca react when she got back: "Everything's over with him! We never really had a relationship. The rumors that Arkan sent men to kidnap me are ridiculous. I know Zeljko really well. If I felt guilty at all I'd go see him and ask what was wrong. I stood by him and Kapetan Dragan in uniform when no one else dared. (TV Novosti, September 92).

What did she do later: She played Kostana in a film which still hasn't been screened, held a number of successful concerts and found a new boyfriend.

Who: Dejan Marjanovic Saban, a young star of the Belgrade underworld.

How did she win him over: "It was love at first sight. She's not boring like other girls. She isn't stupid, she likes to have her own way. I remember thinking: someone has to tame this wildcat."

Why didn't he succeed: "I couldn't take any more. She kept me sweating for three months."

What happened later: Saban was killed in a shoot-out and Ceca found a new boyfriend.

How: "We met on October 11, 1993 at a celebration of the Serbian volunteer guard in Erdut. We had a serious conversation when we met, he even studied my hands, pulled up my sleeves to make sure there were no needle marks. He wasn't aware that we were together from the moment we met. He didn't understand that his marriage was over until I pressed him. I was persistent, he ran and when he saw he couldn't get away he gave in!"

Why: "Because the relationship between Ceca and Arkan is much more than mere love between mortals. It's not just a relationship between a Serbian party leader and the top folk star. It is a mythical relationship with roots in Kosovo! The relationship between Ceca and Arkan is the relationship between the (legendary) Kosovo girl and the hero. Now it's all clear: the war is over and the girl has healed the wounds of the hero and won him over." (Duga, January 1995).

Zeljko Raznjatovic Arkan

The Groom

Where and when was he born: In Brezice, Slovenia, on April 17, 1952 to father Velja and mother Slavka.

Education: Irregular, but varied.

Why wasn't he drafted into the army: He was abroad.

What was he doing there: "I was in business: trade, exports and imports." And along the way: In Geteborg alone, he's wanted for five bank robberies, at least 20 break-ins, car thefts and illegal arms possession in 1974. He admitted all the crimes to the Swedish police who arrested him but he escaped from prison later.

Occupation: "I work in the federal police. Here's my ID card." (In the first district court in Belgrade in 1986 at a hearing after causing serious bodily harm to someone.

And what else: "I'm a politician, president of the Party of Serb Unity which is now fighting to achieve our Serb dream, a union of all Serb states so that we Serbs have our own state."

And: "I own five construction companies, concerns and export-import companies. I still have my company in London and it's working well. I'm still a rich man, I was never poor, I can say I created everything myself, the last thing I needed was this war."

And in the war: "I commanded the Serb volunteer guard, I have excellent officers. I've been successful, whatever I fought for I captured, I mean liberated."

For example: "I found out that the mujahedins had moved to Zvornik and I went to Mali Zvornik with my aide because they called us there. I gave the Turks an ultimatum to surrender the town by eight o'clock or I'd destroy them. That's what happened! At five they didn't want to surrender and I ordered artillery attacks and we entered Zvornik. We had a lot of prisoners, a lot of dead on their side they weren't trained to fight they just died like fanatics. There were a lot of fanatics."

Will he answer for war crimes: "I don't expect to. I think they're all just stories. First let them call the people who killed civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the Hague, attacked Panama and Grenada, then me. I defended my own by defending other people's homes."

Who does he hate: The Ustashi and Mujahedin.

Why: "They killed over a million Serbs, Jews and Gypsies in Jasenovac, only because they were Serbs."

Who does he respect: "I respect Radovan Karadzic a lot, I respect Slobodan Milosevic a lot."

Why: "They are Serb sons, they are Serb leaders who led the people in a just defensive battle. I can only say that I'm very sorry and that I'm asking them as a brother Serb to sit down and talk, find a solution because there's always a solution and the worst solution is the one right now."

Why didn't he invite them to the wedding: "It's politics because we can't find a common language with the Bosnian Serb leaders. I'd invite Milosevic gladly but I know the president is busy."

What does he expect of Ceca: "The entertainment business demands free behavior and dress codes. I've even suggested she move more at concerts. But she has to be an exemplary wife and mother at home. She's very smart and she knows that I need someone who understands me. A woman has to be the pillar of the home, the neck while we are only the head."

What can't be done in Serbia: "In this country you can't even have a good time because someone is going to abuse that. Someone is always looking for someone else's mistake and we want the people to be happy."

What can be done: "In Serbia today the truth tends to have only one side. Look at it well. It's the face of Zeljko Raznjatovic Arkan. (NIN - February, 1995).

Dejan Anastasijevic