When Tensions Rise

The court case against those charged of murdering Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan, Milenko Mandic and Dragan Garic will by all accounts upon its commencement deviate from the set concept of not making too many waves and not mentioning the names of certain people from the State Security service and their associates. The crucial factor of this change was, without any doubt, influenced by the events of October 5 and the subsequent elections. The District Court verdict of the court council of five refers to this as well, which accepted a motion to call some witnesses which the prosecutor didn´t list in the indictment. They were suggested during the last trial in December by deputy district attorney Nebojsa Maras, i.e. the representative of the Raznatovic family, attorney Dusan Slijepcevic. The people in question are Vojislav Jekic, the former chief of Department of Internal Affairs in Loznica and Andrej Draskovic, who is usually referred to as a “well-known Belgrade businessman” (with a mention of hard drugs) who is in custody, facing charges of murdering Zvonko Plecevic Pleca with gunshots from the back on Sept. 11 of last year in Belgrade´s Knez café. The motion has also been sustained that David Kostadinovic, in jail as well (unauthorized possession of a large amount of weapons), will also testify as a witness, as well as a certain Djeric, member of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ).     

What is interesting is that in this entire event, i.e. murder in the Intercontinental hotel, everything is swarming with police officers, some active, some former or on leave, retired ones, those who were discharged from service… They are also found amongst those who were killed, those charged with murder, as witnesses, accomplices. That´s what is known, and one can only suppose there were more of them.

NERVOUSNESS: Some of those who will now testify in court were witnesses to the crime or found themselves in Loznica where, on January 15 of last year, Dobrosav Gavric was brought to the Loznica hospital by his friends, later also charged as accomplices, after he was wounded in the Intercontinental shooting, although Gavric is on top of the list in the indictment as the perpetrator of the murder. By agreeing to testify and tell what they know about the assassination of Arkan and his friends, Jekic, Draskovic, Kostadinovic and Djeric could easily point the court to a new direction and uncover thus far unmentioned people from various fields, especially the roles of some of the more eminent police officers and State Security officials, not only prior to but also at the time of the crime and all that later ensued. It seems as though nervousness has seized a part of the DB ruling structure. Anxiety especially prevailed after Vojislav Jekic´s words, spoken to a reporter of Ilustrovana Politika daily, were published and taped on a video. Namely, Jekic, a good distance away from Belgrade, addressed the public, accusing some of the leading officials of the police and DB for collaborating with the assassins, i.e. covering up the truth about the crime, which fits into the claims made by the friends of the Raznatovic family and Arkan´s son Mihajlo that the assassination in Intercontinental was organized by some people in the DB and that Andrija Draskovic is deeply involved with Zeljko´s assassination. That caused a reaction of the top DB officials and a need to make an announcement via their PR department, of whose existence no one even knew since as such it never appeared nor issued any statements. Therefore, a justified doubt exists that people who are concerned about their future stand behind this unusual gesture.

“They are under serious pressure because of Jekic, which is probably why they formed the PR department in a hurry, to get themselves out of trouble”, is what some of the police officers of the Republic Secretariat of Internal Affairs assume. “Since, until now, official announcements were always issued by the PR department of the Republic Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP), never directly from DB itself.” In that announcement of January 14, DB reproaches the public information means because Jekic´s out of court testimony “in the announcements and headlines already contains explanations why it shouldn´t be published as sensationalistic, without any reservations”, stressing that Jekic is “a man for whom a central arrest warrant has been issued”, something that also wasn´t known until now. It is debatable whether Judge Dragoljub Djordjevic and his council were aware of this detail when they accepted the motion to call Jekic as a witness and hear his testimony. Allegedly, the warrant has been issued due to a suspicion that Jekic had assisted the assassins after the crime. It is a bit unclear why he wasn´t arrested when he was making a statement in Belgrade´s police station. He probably then said that he hadn´t seen a thing nor spoken to Gavric´s friends in Loznica, since that is the only way one can explain the subsequent warrant. Or is something totally different at work here, thus far unattainable. The beginning of the DB announcement is also somewhat confusing, which says: “It is our duty to give very precise data: all testimonies of Vojislav Jekic given in the Belgrade police station…” The word “testimony”, which, according to the Law on Criminal Charges and the usual police practice is used when a suspect is interrogated in front of an investigative judge, while a “statement” is given or recorded at the police station. This slip would never have happened to professionals if they were at all interested in the aforementioned law. The top DB ranks were probably worried by Jekic´s knowledge that, independently of each other, Zeljko Raznatovic and Andrija Draskovic spent a few hours in, or so one could say, friendly conversation with DB chief Rade Markovic in his cabinet. Arkan a day prior to his assassination, and Draskovic in the morning hours of the day when the crime occurred. The Raznatovic family, as well as Borisav Pelevic, know why Arkan visited Markovic, but it is highly interesting to hear what the witness Andrija Draskovic will say on that subject, under condition that he is willing to explain why he visited the DB chief. Naturally, he will assess what will work to his advantage and whether all that he says as a witness in this court case will help or hinder his otherwise uncomfortable position as a man charged with murder. It could easily happen, and predictions in Belgrade´s palace of justice are such, that the trial of those charged with the Intercontinental crime will last for a long time and that in the meantime Rade Markovic might eventually be ousted and called upon as a witness. To, for example, face Andrija Draskovic in case their testimonies don´t match.

CONNECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: It will no doubt be interesting to hear how Andrija Draskovic will explain why, as witnesses claim, he was in Loznica in the evening of Jan. 15 of last year in a car with police lights which was in the convoy of the vehicle with the wounded Dobrosav Gavric. At the same day when Zeljko Raznatovic was murdered. Vojislav Jekic says that Andrija Draskovic is a DB associate, which is repudiated in DB´s announcement stressing that the “service is an all too serious matter and that it selects the people with whom it collaborates”, which is undisputed, yet at least in this second part it reminds one more of a bad joke. The connection between DB and crime has clearly been demonstrated a number of times in front of the eyes of the all but naïve public, who were nevertheless frightened by the various Service associates in charge of the dirtiest jobs. One should only remember the false promise of the former minister of police Radmilo Bogdanovic, given to Vecernje Novosti daily, that he will reveal the list of criminals which the Service had at certain times sent abroad to assassin our political immigrants – those whose opinions differed from the former communist regime. As to all that has been going on in the streets of Belgrade during the last decade, and the efforts of the “serious service” to, for example, solve the unresolved murder cases is a totally futile subject, especially since justified suspicion exists that certain people from the very top ranks of the State Security were behind many assassinations. There is a reason why the deputy prime minister and minister of police in the new government Dusan Mihajlovic last Monday hinted that “MUP will have to be sufficiently professional to uncover the motives, those who ordered these crimes and their perpetrators even if the trail leads us to the top police officials”. The announcement of DB´s so-called PR department claims that “Andrija Draskovic never received an official ID from them”. That is probably true, but there is no mention of the existence of various types of ID´s, starting with certain  licenses to serious written recommendations with a note that for example the aforementioned associate is on a special task and should be assisted to successfully complete it. Incidentally, it isn´t actually known – it seems to be an unsolvable issue – how many diplomatic passports Milan Milutinovic, while acting as foreign minister, had handed out to various insignificant characters or how many associates were issued with official ID´s and given telephone numbers to call a “higher authority” in case of certain complications, supplied by top DB officials. Or, what to say of the “serious service” whose drunken members from the Stolc camp in Kula wreaked havoc by placing knives under the throats of the passers-by and threatening those who were putting up posters of the by then former opposition parties. And after they had eaten and drunken aplenty in a pub, they showed their official ID´s instead of paying the bill. The regular police forces in Kula had determined that they were DB personnel, but remained helpless – the thugs had official ID´s. So much for the “chosen people” and official ID´s. All in all, the aforementioned announcement of DB´s PR department (it isn´t known whether anyone had signed it) at best sounds highly distasteful and unconvincing. It can only be comprehended as a reflection of worry and fear in DB, or one of its parts, of possible scandals if Vojislav Jekic shows up as a witness in court and sends to pasture those who until yesterday were obedient executors of the whims of the ruling oligarchy and who can´t seem to come to their senses and wake up from their decade-long invincibility. For now there are no indications that someone could thwart Jekic´s intention to tell all that he knows and explain the connections of a part of DB with crime in front of the court, but he will do this, or so he promises, only when the judiciary becomes independent and when he becomes certain that his life won´t be endangered. Which is why he keeps changing residence, accompanied by Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan´s friends and comrades in arms. As Jekic told Ilustrovana Politika´s reporter, he has no intention of talking about people who aren´t present. That is why he says: “I want to face them and tell them while looking them in the eye. And let whatever has to happen, happen afterwards. I will appear in court without any doubts. However, while the people I am talking about are still holding on to their positions, and while it still isn´t known when our judiciary will become functional, it is clear that I can´t talk. I won´t tell Rade Markovic anything nor anything about him without confronting him in court. And that is my final decision. Arkan´s murder is only a segment of the wrong conduct of certain individuals which has to be clarified in its entirety”, concluded Jekic who, prior to having been given the position of head of Loznica´s Department of Internal Affairs, had worked in the MUP of Serbia´s internal control for ten years. There is no doubt that as a witness he could uncover many compromising details which are deeply hidden and dangerous. It is believed that he knows a lot about the unresolved murders.

ONE-YEAR MASS

The one-year Mass for Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan held on Jan. 13 at the New Cemetery was attended by all members of the deceased´s family, relatives, friends and over one hundred citizens. Besides Arkan´s mother Slavka and sister Jelena Raznatovic-Diklic, the widow Svetlana Ceca Raznatovic was also present who, some twenty minutes prior to the beginning of mass, arrived accompanied by bodyguards with her four-year-old son Veljko and two-and-a-half-year old daughter Anastasija. Before she kissed her husband´s grave and lit a candle, Ceca expressed condolences to Arkan´s mother and sister and then joined the other members of the Raznatovic family. Amongst the citizens who were waiting in line to light a candle to the former leader of the Serbian Volunteer Guard were also Milorad Vucelic, the former high Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) official and RTS director, currently the president of the Democratic Socialist Party, Zeljko Mitrovic, owner of TV Pink, Toni Montano, football player Dragisa Binic, the football players of the Obilic club and members of the Serbian Unity Party (SSJ). Arkan´s best friend, godfather to his children and SSJ president Borisav Pelevic didn´t attend Mass, which surprised many. When the service was over, Arkan´s oldest son Mihajlo thanked those who were present: “Dear friends and godfathers, thank you for attending this Mass for my father and commander. May eternal glory and thanks be his.” Immediately after Mass Ceca hurriedly left the cemetery, even though Arkan´s mother insisted that she stay and partake of the ritual cake.

The reason for Pelevic´s non-attendance was quickly explained. He was upset by some of Mihajlo Raznatovic´s statements given in an interview to VREME in which he questions Pelevic´s title of professor. Simply put, Mihajlo obviously believed that a professor shouldn´t be prone to voicing cheap, insubstantial claims such as that Zeljko Raznatovic was murdered by the CIA and Albanian terrorists. Mihajlo was also categorical in his claim that his father had never promoted Pelevic to the rank of general as he claims. 

“The close ties between people who have served a family as godfather is sacred and I will never say anything bad about the members of the Raznatovic family because I love and respect them too much”, explains Pelevic. “However, what Mihajlo Raznatovic said about me in VREME has got absolutely nothing to do with the truth.” On that occasion, Pelevic stressed that he has no less than three professor´s diplomas from the field of physical education. He didn´t comment about the rank of general nor did he dispute Mihajlo´s words. However, all of that obviously didn´t credit a dispute and Pelevic presented the essence of the matter, as he sees it: “It seems as though my only fault is for being a co-witness to the last will and testament which Arkan drew up at the end of March of 1999 and for having stood by his wife Svetlana Raznatovic and her small children as well as by the football club Obilic after his assassination. I wasn´t a beneficiary in that will. My wife Marijana received office space in the passage under Vuk´s monument, but she gave that to the two-and-a-half-year-old Anastasija, late Arkan´s youngest daughter.” What and whether Arkan´s other children (seven) as well as their mothers ever got anything so far remains in the family.

“I visited the grave of my commander on Saturday the 13th and Monday the 15th of January. On Saturday afternoon I was with Ceca, Arkan´s mother Slavka, Zeljko´s family and my godchildren Veljko and Anastasija. Everyone knows that, there were around a hundred people there, and I don´t know what propelled this media hunt against me. Therefore, all that the newspapers are writing in a biased way isn´t OK, but that truly hurts me because I have never in any way, or so I believe, had any disputes with the media nor the reporters. I was always correct and helpful towards the reporters. I never refused to talk to them even when they called me at all hours. I don´t understand” said Borisav Pelevic for Svedok magazine.