Secret Policemen's Yacht Club

On March 6, Dragoslav Rakic, Head Prosecuting Judge of Belgrade Regional Court, stated that “it’s not true that Rade Markovic is defending himself through silence during the investigation, for if we didn’t have hard evidence against the former Chief of State Security and two officers of that agency, Markovic, Nenad Ilic and Nenad Bujosevic, we would not be holding them in prison.”  However, that same day an unofficial statement was issued by the Palace of Justice to the effect that this is not quite the case, that is to say that journalists have drawn this conclusion by misinterpreting statements given by the Head Prosecuting Judge.  In other words, thus far, Markovic denies his involvement as accomplice in the assassination of four members of the Serbian Renewal Movement on the Ibar Highway, which is only logical, given the fact that the law stipulates a sentence from 10 years in prison to execution for such a crime.  Nebojsa Zivkovic, Prosecuting Judge at the Regional Court, the man in charge of the investigation against Markovic, is sticking to the book with regard to not offering any information regarding the progress of the investigation against the former Chief of State Security.  However, on March 9, Serbian Minister of Police, Dusan Mihajlovic, stated for journalists that Rade Markovic took part in illegal phone tapping and surveillance of Vuk Draskovic prior to the staged traffic accident, that is to say assassination on the Ibar Highway.  Also interesting is the fact that a State Security officer who was working at the wire tapping service of State Security on October 3, 1999, the day of the assassination, gave testimony in the current investigation to the effect that he did not have an order from Rade Markovic to tap into Vuk Draskovic’s phone calls, nor did he do so at his own initiative.

SNITCHING YOUR PREDECESSOR:  However, a leak from the investigation indicates that on more than one occasion Markovic the accusatorial finger at his predecessor, Jovic Stanisic - a man three years younger than Markovic and who was fired from the position of Chief of State Security of Serbia at the end of October 1998 – while claiming for himself that he did everything “by the book” and according to the Constitution and the law.  He claims that Stanisic abused his position, a vice that is far more benign than involvement in a quadruple homicide, leading to the question what is Markovic trying to achieve with such accusations.  Unless, of course, he believes that his snitching could lead to a reduced sentence, which will likely happen if he admits to having continued the process of criminalization of the State Security Service and of having executed dirty deeds at the order of the conjugal couple from Dedinje (i.e. Slobodan Milosevic and Mira Markovic), which is something that many people in the present government believe to be the case.

The investigative efforts of the officers of the law (policemen and prosecutors) have not yielded any results thus far which directly involve the Milosevic Family in the quadruple homicide on the Ibar Highway.  However, findings in the early stages of the investigation which led to the arrest of Rade Markovic have been brought into question by active police officers.  “Who knows what selection of information has been made, what information was pushed aside and what was presented to Minister Dusan Mihajlovic,” active policemen told us.

“Stanisic organized trafficking of arms, gasoline, cigarettes and used people with a criminal background,” Markovic supposedly testified during the present investigation.  “Stanisic organized people who accompanied convoys with smuggled goods at border crossings, in cooperation with the Federal Customs (Mihalj Kertes); under Stanisic the State Security used to take for its part millions in foreign currency with which it formed a special account for State Security use, that is to say for building supposed official facilities, private houses, apartments in mountain resorts and on the Montenegrin coast,” Markovic continued to reveal.  He stressed that the origin of the property under Jovica Stanisic’s name should be checked into, as well under the names of those close to him, above all Milan Prodanovic, former Chief of Section VIII of the State Security Service, and Milan Tepavcevic Tepa, Stanisic’s assistant, who was immediately fired the moment Markovic took over from Stanisic.  At that time, as far as is known, Markovic did not expose the dirty laundry of his predecessor, nor did he accuse him of abusing the police and of buying a yacht abroad, equipped with the latest navigational equipment, a radar, a radio station and a super-exclusive interior.  Markovic claims that all that was bought with State Security money.  However, it is not known whether that money was looted with the blessing of the Milosevic regime or whether it came from the budget, the largest part of which was intended “to serve national interests.”

“LET’S BRING IN THE COPS”: Pointing out abuses of the State Security, Markovic noted that Jovica Stanisic’s boat is docked in the port of Belgrade’s Shipyard which in 1990 marked off a section of the river bank for pensioners of the Shipyard and rare business associates, where the Brodograditely marina, Section for Motor Boats (the official name of this organization), was subsequently built.  However, the municipal authorities of Belgrade, at the time that the Serbian Renewal Movement held the reigns, allotted the grounds next to the marina to the State Security Service, more precisely its combat unit (Special Operations Unit), where a well guarded compound was erected, fenced off with barbed wire, akin to a concentration camp, with two lookouts for machine guns, armed guards and a mysterious building put together from 32 steel containers shipped in from Germany.  Members of the boating society claim that two enormous gasoline cisterns were housed in this mysterious building, each holding 20,000 liters, plus gasoline pumps, the only ones on the river.  In order for no one to suspect what is really going on, a sign was put in front of the compound, still up today – “Association of Enthusiasts of the Sava and Danube Rivers.”  Problems began when a member of the Brodograditely marina, Section for Motor Boats suggested to bring in the cops – they will help out in bringing electricity and water, they will build a fence and will do everything necessary…  Said and done!  However, that was a catastrophic mistake: since the State Security people did not feel too secure with the close proximity of the flee market, the hords of Rumanian, Bulgarian and Gypsy merchants, and the even closer proximity of a Gypsy shantytown right next to the marina, Jovica Stanisic ordered a certain police general by the name of Gavra to clear out this neighborhood.  This was done in record time.  Subsequently the State Security Service signed a contract with its favorite associate, Djordje Antelje, alias Djoka Gemaks, owner of a specialized company for the construction of exclusive villas for policemen, and for getting building permits for Senjak, Dedinje and Banovo Brdo.  He built villas for State Security men, Rade Markovic, Branko Crni, Milan Radonjic…  The State Security permitted Djoka Geneks to build a part of his empire on the grounds from which the former, undesirable neighbors of the marina had been evicted.  On top of this, Djoka got permission to dump construction rubble into the Sava River, despite numerous protests from community authorities.  Of course, no one could say a single word from the omnipotent State Security Service on which Antelje relied entirely.  In return for this favor, Djoka Gemaks built an entire base for the Special Operations Unit of the State Security Service.  It turned out that the harbor of the Special Operations Unit was not secure enough for Jovica Stanisic’s boat Jenny Brendon, allegedly purchased with State Security money, according to Rade Markovic’s information, which is why it was docked at the Brodograditely marina, Section for Motor Boats.  The care of the State Security boats was given to certain Radivoje Cicvaric, a trustworthy man with the State Security and a former captain in the Yugoslav River Navy.  Using his connections with Jovica Stanisic, Franko Simatovic, Brana Crncevic, Rade Markovic, Mihalj Kertes and other prominent people in the former regime, Cicvaric built his own complex, without any building permits, on the grounds of the Brodograditely marina, Section for Motor Boats.  Cicvaric’s company, B&C, worked with sea and river transport, using its own boats, rented boats, as well as boats under foreign flags.  Allegedly part owners of B&C are Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic.  During the period of sanctions against Yugoslavia, between 1995 and 1996, Cicvaric managed to smuggle through three boats from Odessa, but he was caught the last time by the Rumanians and spent 6 months in prison.  From one of the buildings on the B&C compound, Cicvaric directs his flotilla via radio frequencies, and under the protection of the State Security Service he directed his interests toward the Brodograditely marina, Section for Motor Boats, proclaiming himself president of this boating society, a position he was released from recently by members of the Brodograditely marina, Section for Motor Boats.

FLOTILLA:  Little by little, the marine became crowded with boats owned by State Security men and their associates.  These are very impressive, luxury boats, all entrusted in the care o Cicvaric and B&S who regularly service these boats.  Thus Mihalj Kertes, presently in jail, has a luxury boat “Danube” and a high speed motor boat “Papillon”, while on the opposite shore he also holds a third boat which he confiscated from god-knows-who; Rade Markovic owns a boat without a name or registration license which he claims not to be his, even though he formerly purchased it from Brodotehna, but since the director of that company, Vladimir Sabovic, died in the meantime, Rade Markovic owes money to this company; the boat Jenny Brandon was brought in from England by Radivoje Cicvaric for Jovica Stanisic, but how much it was paid for and by whom is still not known, although a boat engineer with the Belgrade Shipyard showed the boat to his students and in response to the question where Stanisic got the money to buy such a “beauty,” answered that his father-in-law, a well-to-do farmer bought it for him.  Everyone understood what the engineer wanted to say.  Franko Simatovic has a high speed motor boat “Formula” with unusually high horsepower and gasoline usage: 300 horsepower and 150 liters of gasoline per hour, with workers of the Belgrade Shipyard presently making a boat “Orao” (tr. “Eagle”) for him under the supervision of Radivoje Cicvaric, who also has a large luxury boat in the marine called “Saxona”.  Docked near by is the State Security boat “Kole” whose restoration cost close to a million German marks.  This boat was built for Tito to go duck hunting.  However, since he never found time to go boating on the “Kole”, the State Security men decided do restore it and, as they all like to shoot, every now and then they find a sitting duck to kill from this boat.  They decided that the “Kole” is not sufficiently fast and suitable for hunting, so they bought a hovercraft with 22 seats, supposedly to take students from Nestina, across the Danube to school in Backa Palanka.  The hovercraft is otherwise a special boat with a so-called air pocket and a propeller which is above the water.  It was purchased for $360,000 US, it was never used to transport school children, but was used by the State Security for duck hunting, until Cicvaric shot it to pieces near the Rumanian border when he was hunting after wild ducks and boars.  Repairs were extremely costly, but since they were intended for “modernizing State Security” cost was not an issue.

RETIREMENT PLAN:  “As long as former members of the State Security are not dealt with, there is no hope for change,” is the general sentiment expressed at the last session of the sport society of the Brodograditely marina, Section for Motor Boats.  “They snuck into our marina and overtook everything.  Cicvaric made a shipyard here together with ex-security servicemen, with the idea of buying up everything that’s for sale.  This is a group of people who are trying to maintain privileges and personal wealth under the excuse that this is in ‘the state interest’, which is a stupidity that no one is buying anymore.  Stanisic says: Milosevic fired me in 1998?  What was he up to before that time?  Rade Markovic merely took over from him and continued along the same lines.  Stanisic founded the Special Operations Unit base here and brought in goons armed to the teeth who only spook our children.  Things have gone so far that when Jovica Stanisic is sleeping on his boat, no one in the whole marine is allowed to raise their voice, let alone to fire up their engines.  Cicvaric is threatening to arrest all our members, does not allow us to bring our friends, everyone is afraid of him because they know he is under the protection of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic and other state security servicemen who are still demonstrating their power and the fact that they are untouchable.”

On March 23, Radivoje Cicvaric brought in workers with hoses to clean the Jenny Brandon so that Stanisic could go out for a spot on the river.  The next day, in the morning, in front of the entrance to the Special Operations Unit base, Stanisic’s driver was sitting in a great, big, black limousine, stewing in the heat, while former State Security Chief Stanisic, Simatovic and the inexorable Brana Crncevic with his bodyguard who had a gun stuck in his belt, were taking a stroll, looking at the progress of the building of Simatovic’s boat “Orao.”

“Things are getting better.  Until recently, they used to come here with armies of bodyguards, armed with long barreled guns, looking watchfully on all sides, lest some enemy of the Serbian people might take a shot at their masters.  What I wonder is who pays for the bodyguards, who gave Crncevic that great, big car and who pays for its maintenance.  Most probably it comes from the money intended for the ‘modernization of the Servic’ while Stanisic was still Chief of the State Security Service,” pensioners and workers at Belgrade’s Shipyard were commenting.