Zeljko Raznatovic

He was a petty criminal during his teenage years, before graduating to more serious offences. As an armed robber he had convictions or warrants in Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, and Italy. He was imprisoned in Belgium in 1974, escaping in 1977. Rearrested in the Netherlands in 1979 he escaped again in 1981.

He returned to Serbia to continue his career, also opening a number of businesses. He was arrested by Croatian police for gun-running in 1990. From October 1990 he began a paramilitary group, the Serbian Volunteer Guard, initially a organization of Red Star Belgrade[?] (Crvena Zvezda) supporters.

Nicknamed the Tigers, his group saw action from 1991-95, initially in eastern Slavonia. The group was linked with the Vukovar hospital massacre and other acts of ethnic cleansing. Arkan himself was associated with looting and smuggling operations.

He was indicted in September 1997 for war crimes, although the warrant was not made public until 1999.

He was assassinated at Intercontinental Hotel, Belgrade on January 15, 2000, a bodyguard and a business associate were also killed.

He married Ceca Velickovic, a popular folk singer ("turbo-folk"), in November 1995. Their children are Anastasija and Veljko.