Editing Arkan (section)

{{Short description|Serbian paramilitary commander and career criminal}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Željko Ražnatović
| image               = Željko Ražnatović.jpg
| image_size          = 230
| caption             = Ražnatović and his "[[Serb Volunteer Guard|Tigers]]"
| birth_name          = 
| native_name         = {{lang|sr-Cyrl|Жељко Ражнатовић}}
| nickname            = Arkan
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1952|4|17|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = [[Brežice]], [[Socialist Republic of Slovenia|PR Slovenia]], [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|FPR Yugoslavia]]
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|2000|1|15|1952|4|17|df=yes}}
| death_place         = {{Nowrap|[[Belgrade]], [[Republic of Serbia (1992–2006)|Serbia]], [[Serbia and Montenegro|FR Yugoslavia]]}}
| death_cause         = [[Gunshot wounds]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.npr.org/2000/01/15/1069219/arkan-dead?t=1653901716289 | title=Arkan Dead | website=NPR.org }}</ref>
| resting_place       = [[Belgrade New Cemetery]]
| nationality         = Serbian
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Natalija Martinović<br>||1994|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Ceca (singer)|Svetlana Veličković]]<br>|1995}}
}}
| party               = [[Party of Serbian Unity]] (1993–2000)
| children            = 9, including [[Anastasija Ražnatović|Anastasija]]
| relatives           = [[Veljko Ražnatović]] (father)
| office              = [[National Assembly (Serbia)|Member of the National Assembly]]
| president           = [[Zoran Lilić]]<br />Zoran Aranđelović
| termstart           = 25 January 1993
| termend             = 20 October 1993
| allegiance          = {{flag|Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|name=Yugoslavia}}<br />{{flag|Republic of Serbian Krajina|name=Serbian Krajina}}<br />{{flag|Republika Srpska (1992–95)|name=Republika Srpska}}
| branch              = [[File:Logo of the JNA.svg|20px]] [[Yugoslav People's Army]] <small>(until 1992)</small><br>[[File:Emblem Republika Srpska Army.svg|19px]] [[Army of Republika Srpska]] <small>(1992–1995)</small>
| serviceyears        = 1991–1996
| rank                = Commander
| battles             = {{tree list}} 
* [[Croatian War of Independence]]
** [[1991 Yugoslav campaign in Croatia]]
*** [[Battle of Vukovar]]
*** [[Battle of Jasenovac]]
*** [[Battle for Antunovac]]
*** [[Battle of Ernestinovo]]
*** [[Battle of Osijek]]
*** [[Siege of Slunj]]
*** [[Clashes in Bogdanovci|Battles for Bogdanovci]]
*** {{Tree list/final branch}} [[Battle of Nuštar]]
*** {{ill|Operation Steel '93|sr|Операција Челик '93}}
{{tree list/end}}
{{tree list}}
* [[Bosnian War]]
** [[1992 Yugoslav campaign in Bosnia]]
*** [[Bijeljina massacre|Capture of Bijeljina]]
*** [[Zvornik massacre|Capture of Zvornik]]
*** [[Višegrad massacre|Capture of Višegrad]]
** [[Operation Corridor 92]]
** {{ill|Operation Famos|sr|Операција Фамос}}
** [[Battle of Grbavica (1993)|Battle of Grbavica 93]]
** [[Operation Spider|Operation Spider 94]]
** [[Siege of Goražde]]
** [[Siege of Žepa]]
** [[Siege of Srebrenica]]
** [[Mala Kladuša offensive]]
** [[Operation Krivaja '95|Operation Krivaja 95]]
** [[Operation Una|Operation Una 95]]
** [[Operation Sana]]
** {{Tree list/final branch}} [[Operation Prijedor 95]]
{{tree list/end}}
| unit                = [[File:Patch of the Serb Volunteer Guard (variant).svg|19px]] [[Serb Volunteer Guard|Arkan Tigers]] {{Tree list/final branch}}
| awards              = [[Order of Karađorđe's Star]]<br />[[File:Karadjodjeva_zvezda_2_RS.gif|35px]] <small></small>
| module              = '''Criminal information'''{{Infobox criminal
  |child               = yes
  |charge              = {{Longitem|''see [[#ICTY indictment|ICTY indictment section below]]''}}
  | conviction         = 
  | conviction_penalty = ''No (assassinated)''
  | conviction_status  = 
}}
}}
'''Željko Ražnatović''' ({{Lang-sr-Cyrl|Жељко Ражнатовић}}, {{IPA|sh|ʒêːʎko raʒnâːtoʋitɕ|pron}}; 17 April 1952 – 15 January 2000), better known as '''Arkan''' ({{Lang-sr-Cyrl|Аркан}}), was a Serbian [[warlord]], [[mobster]] and head of the [[Serbs|Serb]] paramilitary force called the [[Serb Volunteer Guard]] during the [[Yugoslav Wars]], considered one of the most feared and effective paramilitary forces during the wars.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uGM1MrB981IC&dq=arkan%27s+tigers+one+of+the+most+powerful+paramilitary&pg=PA209 |title=Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict, 1990-1995 |publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]], Office of Russian and European Analysis |year=2003 |pages=209 |isbn=978-0-16-066472-4 |language=en}}</ref> His paramilitary unit was responsible for numerous crimes in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Eastern Bosnia]], including murder, pillaging, rape and ethnic cleansings.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spitka |first=Timea |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2tACwAAQBAJ&dq=arkan+rape+murder+bosnia&pg=PA80 |title=International Intervention, Identity and Conflict Transformation: Bridges and Walls Between Groups |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-0-8153-6518-1 |series= |location=London New York |pages=80 |language=en}}</ref> Arkan was one of the most celebrated and iconic figures in Serbia during his time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Milekic |first=Denis Dzidic, Marija Ristic, Milka Domanovic, Petrit Çollaku, Sven |date=2014-12-08 |title=Arkan’s Paramilitaries: Tigers Who Escaped Justice |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2014/12/08/arkan-s-paramilitaries-tigers-who-escaped-justice/ |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=Balkan Insight |language=en-US}}</ref>

Arkan was on [[Interpol]]'s top 10 most wanted list in the 1970s and 1980s for robberies and murders committed in countries across Europe,<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Bartrop |first=Paul R. |author-link=Paul R. Bartrop |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOnEEAAAQBAJ&dq=arkan+interpol+most+wanted&pg=PA271 |title=A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide: Portraits of Evil and Good |date=2012 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-38678-7 |location=Santa Barbara, Calif |pages=270–271 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dzuro |first=Vladimír |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5rauDwAAQBAJ&dq=arkan+interpol+most+wanted&pg=PA211 |title=The Investigator: Demons of the Balkan War |date=2019 |publisher=Potomac Books, An imprint of the University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-1-64012-195-9 |location=Lincoln |pages=211 |language=en}}</ref> he escaped jail twice,<ref name=":2" /> 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,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dhITCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA205 |title=Serbia Since 1989: Politics and Society Under Milosevic and After |date=2010 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=978-0-295-98650-0 |editor-last=Ramet |editor-first=Sabrina P. |edition= |series= |location=Seattle |pages=205 |editor-last2=Pavlaković |editor-first2=Vjeran}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Glenny |first=Misha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DI5PEAAAQBAJ&dq=arkan+most+powerful+balkans&pg=PA675#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Balkans: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804–2011 |date=2012 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-242256-4 |location=New York, NY |pages=675 |language=en}}</ref> as well as the most powerful state-sponsored [[gangster]] in Serbia. Ražnatović had links to [[Abraham Golan|Avraham Golan]], an infamous security contractor.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dhITCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA218 |title=Serbia Since 1989: Politics and Society Under Milosevic and After |date=2010 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=978-0-295-98650-0 |editor-last=Ramet |editor-first=Sabrina P. |edition= |series= |location=Seattle |pages=218 |editor-last2=Pavlaković |editor-first2=Vjeran}}</ref>