Editing Arkan (section)

==Yugoslav Wars==
===Early===
Only days after the [[Croatian parliamentary election, 1990|1990 Croatian multi-party election]], Ražnatović, who was the leader of the ''[[Delije]]'' ([[football hooliganism|hooligan]] supporters of the football club [[Red Star Belgrade]]), was present at the away game against Croatian side [[Dinamo Zagreb]] at [[Stadion Maksimir]] on 13 May, a match that ended in the infamous [[Dinamo–Red Star riot]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dalje.com/en-sports/video--day-when-maksimir-stadium-went-up-in-flames/257791 |title=VIDEO: Day When Maksimir Stadium Went up in Flames |publisher=Dalje.com |date=13 May 2009 |access-date=1 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301221046/http://dalje.com/en-sports/video--day-when-maksimir-stadium-went-up-in-flames/257791 |archive-date=1 March 2014 }}</ref> Ražnatović and the Delije, consisting of 1,500 people, were involved in a massive fight with the [[Bad Blue Boys|home team's football hooligans]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tol.org/client/article/5707-football-is-war.html|title=Football is War|date=15 March 1999 |publisher=Tol.org|access-date=1 March 2014}}</ref> On 11 October 1990, as the political situation in Yugoslavia [[Log Revolution|became tense]], Ražnatović created a [[paramilitary]] group named the [[Serb Volunteer Guard]]. Ražnatović was the supreme commander of the unit, which was primarily made up of members of the ''Delije'' and his personal friends.<ref>{{cite book|title=Football Hooligans, and War|author=Ivan Čolović|publisher=Central European University Press|year=2000}}</ref><ref>Nebojsa Popov, Drinka Gojkovic; (1999) ''The Road to War in Serbia: Trauma and Catharsis'' p. 388; Central European University Press, {{ISBN|9639116564}}</ref><ref>Michael A. Innes; (2006) ''Bosnian Security after Dayton: New Perspectives (Contemporary Security Studies)'' p. 75; Routledge, {{ISBN|041565369X}}</ref>

In late October 1990, Ražnatović traveled to [[Knin]] to meet representatives of the [[SAO Krajina]], a Serb break-away region that sought to remain in FR Yugoslavia, as opposed to the Croatian government that seceded. On 29 November, Croatian police arrested him at the Croatian-Bosnian border crossing [[Dvor na Uni]] along with local Dušan Carić and Belgraders Dušan Bandić and Zoran Stevanović. Ražnatović's entourage was sent to [[Sisak]] and was charged with conspiracy to overthrow the newly formed Croatian state. Ražnatović was sentenced to twenty months in jail. He was released from Zagreb's [[Remetinec prison]] on 14 June 1991. It has been claimed that the Croatian and Serbian governments agreed on a [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]1 million settlement for his release.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hrvatska za Arkana dobila milion maraka|url=http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/2000/01/18/srpski/H00011704.shtm|work=Glas-javnosti|publisher=Arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs|access-date=1 March 2014}} (in Serbian)</ref>

In July 1991, Ražnatović stayed for some time at the [[Cetinje monastery]], with Metropolitan [[Amfilohije Radović]]. His group of men, fully armed, were allowed to enter the monastery, where they served as security.<ref name=ENOVINE>{{cite web|url=http://www.e-novine.com/srbija/srbija-licnosti/32577-Zvijer-bezdana.html|title=Zvijer iz bezdana |publisher=e-novine.com|access-date=1 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Drustvo/74645/Kozaci-ne-obezbedjuju-manastir|title=Kozaci ne obezbeđuju manastir|date=17 January 2009 |publisher=Blic.rs|access-date=1 March 2014}}</ref> Ražnatović's group traveled from Cetinje to the [[Siege of Dubrovnik]]. On his return from Dubrovnik, he was again a guest at Cetinje.<ref name=ENOVINE/>

===War===
The Serb Volunteer Guard, also known as "Arkan's Tigers", was organized as an elite paramilitary force supporting the Serb armies, set up in a former military facility in [[Erdut]]. The force, led by Ražnatović and [[Milorad Ulemek]],<ref name="BI">{{cite news |last1=Ristic |first1=Marija |last2=Dragojlo |first2=Sasa |date=31 May 2016 |title=Legija: Killer Kingpin in Serbia's Courtroom Dramas |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2016/05/31/legija-killer-kingpin-in-serbia-s-courtroom-dramas-05-31-2016/ |work=Balkan Insight}}</ref> consisted of a core of 600 men and perhaps totaled more than 5,000 soldiers,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stojanovic |first=Milica |date=23 March 2023 |title=Serbia Urged to Prosecute Arkan's Paramilitaries for War Crimes |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2023/03/23/serbia-urged-to-prosecute-arkans-paramilitaries-for-war-crimes/ |work=[[Balkan Insight]]}}</ref> and it was much feared by the public.<ref>Vasic, "Yugoslav Army" p. 134; UN experts ''Final Report'' par. 92, 139</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mueller |first=John |date=2000-06-22 |title=The Banality of &quot;Ethnic War&quot; |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=01622889&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA65142948&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs |journal=International Security |language=English |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=42|doi=10.1162/016228800560381 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last1=Dzidic |first1=Denis |last2=Ristic |first2=Marija |last3=Domanovic |first3=Milka |last4=Çollaku |first4=Petrit |last5=Milekic |first5=Sven |date=8 December 2014 |title=Arkan's Paramilitaries: Tigers Who Escaped Justice |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2014/12/08/arkan-s-paramilitaries-tigers-who-escaped-justice/ |work=[[Balkan Insight]]}}</ref> Under Arkan's command the SDG massacred hundreds of people in eastern Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.<ref>Tony Judt; (2006) ''Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945'', chapter XXI; Penguin Books, {{ISBN| 0143037757}}</ref> It saw action from mid-1991 until late 1995, and was supplied and equipped privately, by the reserves of the Serbian police force or through capturing enemy arms.

When the [[Croatian War of Independence]] broke out in 1991, the SDG was active in the [[Vukovar]] region, committing crimes against Croat and Hungarian civilians in [[Dalj massacre|Dalj]], [[Erdut killings|Erdut]], [[Tenja massacre|Tenja]] and other areas. After the [[Bosnian War]] broke out in April 1992, the unit moved between the Croatian and Bosnian fronts, engaging in multiple instances of [[ethnic cleansing]] by killing and forcefully deporting mostly [[Bosniaks|Bosniak]] civilians. In Croatia, it fought in various areas in [[SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia]]. Ražnatović, reportedly, had a dispute over military operations with Krajina leader [[Milan Martić]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/serbian_digest/108/t108-4.htm|title=Vreme News Digest Agency No 108|publisher=Scc.rutgers.edu|date=18 October 1993|access-date=1 March 2014|archive-date=22 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622034236/http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/serbian_digest/108/t108-4.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> In Bosnia, the SDG notably fought in battles in and around [[Zvornik massacre|Zvornik]], [[Bijeljina massacre|Bijeljina]] and [[Brčko (city)|Brčko]], mostly against Bosniak and Bosnian Croat paramilitary groups, including killings of civilians.

Ražnatović was favored by the Serbian authorities because as a gangster and a football hooligan he seemed to have no political ambitions and hence posed no threat to the regime of [[Slobodan Milošević]].{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=317-319}} However, he started to show signs of wanting to move beyond organised crime, founding his own political party, the Party for Serbian Unity, in 1992.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=320}} He also became the owner of the casino in the [[Hotel Jugoslavija]] along with a radio station, a shipping company and a brand of wine named Erdut after the base of the Tiger militia.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=320}} The SDG served as much of a criminal organisation as a para-military group, and was involved in smuggling petrol into Serbia from Romania and Bulgaria in defiance of the United Nations sanctions imposed on Serbia in May 1992.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=320}} Ražnatović's petrol smuggling brought him into conflict with [[Marko Milošević]], the son of Slobodan, who from 1994 onwards was said to be trying to monopolise the petrol smuggling.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=320}} In the summer of 1995, the Serbian state curtailed the supply of arms to the SDG, which was said to have been a punishment for competing with Marko Milošević.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=320}}  

In late 1995, Ražnatović's troops fought in the area of [[Banja Luka]], [[Sanski Most]] and [[Prijedor]]. In October 1995, he left Sanski Most as the [[Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] reclaimed the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.angelfire.com/vt2/sanskimost/u_spomen_/u_spomen_na_ubijene_sanjane.htm|title=U spomen na ubijene Sanjane|publisher=Angelfire.com|access-date=1 March 2014}}</ref> Ražnatović personally led most of the operations, and rewarded his most efficient officers and soldiers with ranks, medals and eventually looted goods. Several younger soldiers were rewarded for their actions in and around [[Kopački Rit]] and [[Bijelo Brdo, Croatia|Bijelo Brdo]]. Ražnatović reportedly sent one of his most trusted men, Radovan Stanišić, to Italy to start a relationship with [[Camorra]] boss [[Francesco Schiavone]]. According to [[Roberto Saviano]], Schiavone eased [[arms smuggling]] to Serbia by stopping the [[Albanian mafia|Albanian mobsters]]' blocking of weapons routes, and helped money transfer into Serbia in the form of humanitarian aid [[Sanctions against Yugoslavia|amid the international sanctions]]. In exchange, the Camorra acquired companies, enterprises, shops and farms in Serbia at optimal prices.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.giugenna.com/2003/07/13/roberto-saviano-scampia-erzegovina|title=Roberto Saviano. "Scampia-Erzegovina"|author=Giuseppe Genna|date=13 July 2003 |publisher=Giugenna.com|access-date=1 March 2014}}</ref>

Ražnatović has been accused of kidnapping Serb refugees who had fled to Serbia from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and forcing them into conscription.<ref name="Grihovic">{{cite web |last1=Grihovic |first1=Marina |title=Serbia: Refugee conscripts fight for justice |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/bosnia-and-herzegovina/serbia-refugee-conscripts-fight-justice |website=Relief Web |publisher=Institute for War and Peace Reporting |access-date=3 January 2022 |date=October 2001}}</ref> After [[Operation Storm]] in Croatia resulted in the collapse of the Republic of Serbian Krajina and exodus of Serb refugees fleeing to Serbia, the [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Serbia)|Serbian Interior Ministry]] rounded up over 5,000 refugees to conscript into the SDG.<ref name="RUS">{{cite web |title=Forcible mobilisation in Serbia |url=https://ratusrbiji.rs/en/forcible-mobilisation-in-serbia/ |website=Rat u Srbiji|date=7 April 2020 }}</ref> Military-aged men were forcibly rounded up after arriving in Serbia by local police and then sent to detention camp in Erdut against their will and without informing their families.<ref name="detektor">{{cite web |title=Serbia Sent Refugees from Croatia, Bosnia to Frontlines: Report |url=https://detektor.ba/2019/11/13/serbia-sent-refugees-from-croatia-bosnia-to-frontlines-report/?lang=en |website=Detektor |publisher=BIRN |access-date=3 January 2022 |date=13 November 2019}}</ref> Once in Erdut, the refugees' heads were shaved and all valuables were confiscated. The men were then subjected to days of physical and psychological torture from the SDG guards, which included extreme physical exercises, routine beatings, and often being subjected to humiliating acts.<ref name="HLC">{{cite web |title=Dossier: Forcible Mobilisation of Refugees |url=http://www.hlc-rdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Dossier_Forcible_Mobilisation_of_Refugees.pdf |publisher=Humanitarian Law Center |date=2019}}</ref> Ražnatović had been giving speeches accusing the refugees of being cowards and traitors, blaming them for the loss of RSK.<ref name="HLC" /> Belgrade's [[Humanitarian Law Center]] has represented over 100 people suing the state of Serbia for forced mobilisation.<ref name="Stojanovic">{{cite web |last1=Stojanovic |first1=Milica |title=Serbia Sent Refugees from Croatia, Bosnia to Frontlines: Report |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2019/11/13/serbia-sent-refugees-from-croatia-bosnia-to-frontlines-report/ |website=Balkan Insight |date=13 November 2019 |publisher=BIRN |access-date=3 January 2022}}</ref>