Editing Arkan (section)

==Assassination==
[[File:Continental Hotel Belgrade.jpg|thumb|Hotel InterContinental]]
In the late 1990s, Ražnatović became an isolated figure in Belgrade who rarely went outside without his bodyguards.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=320}} Between 1995-2000, there were over 500 gangland murders in Belgrade, virtually none of which were solved by the police.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=320}} A number of the gangsters killed were associates of Ražnatović, which was seen as a sign that he had lost his political protection.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=320}} Together with his wife, Ražnatović virtually lived in the lounges of international hotels in Belgrade, apparently out of the hope he would not be killed in a place where so many foreign journalists were present.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=320}} 

Ražnatović was assassinated, 15 January 2000, 17:05 [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]], in the lobby of the [[Crowne Plaza Belgrade|Hotel InterContinental]] in [[New Belgrade]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=BELGRADE: WARLORD ARKAN SHOT & KILLED {{!}} AP Archive |url=http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/4e860b366cca2bdb2a1c30441b5e1fdd |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=www.aparchive.com}}</ref> in a location where he was surrounded by other hotel guests. The killer, Dobrosav Gavrić, a 23-year-old junior police mobile brigade member, had ties to the underworld and was on sick leave at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Three Serbs Arrested in Slaying of Arkan |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/2000-01/23/092r-012300-idx.html |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref> He walked up alone toward his target from behind. Ražnatović was sitting and chatting with two friends and, according to [[BBC Radio]], was filling out a betting slip. Gavrić waited for a few minutes, calmly walked up behind the party, and rapidly fired a succession of bullets from his [[CZ99]] pistol. Ražnatović was hit in his left eye and became unconscious on the spot.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/01/17/arkan.killing|title=Breaking, World, Business, Sports, Entertainment and Video News|publisher=Archives.cnn.com|access-date=1 March 2014|archive-date=18 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218185524/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/01/17/arkan.killing/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=bbc>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/605172.stm|title=Serbian warlord shot dead|work=BBC News|date=15 January 2000|access-date=1 March 2014}}</ref> His bodyguard Zvonko Mateović put him into a car, and rushed him to a hospital; he died on the way.<ref name="npr.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1069219|title=Arkan Dead|publisher=NPR|date=15 January 2000|access-date=1 March 2014}}</ref>

According to his widow Svetlana, Ražnatović died in her arms as they were driving to the hospital. His companions Milenko Mandić, a business manager, and Dragan Garić, a police inspector, were also shot dead by Gavrić, who in turn was shot and wounded by Mateović. A female bystander was also seriously wounded in the shootout. After complicated surgery, Gavrić survived, but was disabled from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gall |first=Carlotta |date=2001-03-07 |title=Serbian Pop Star Faces Suspected Killer of Her Warlord Husband |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/07/world/serbian-pop-star-faces-suspected-killer-of-her-warlord-husband.html |access-date=2022-11-08 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
[[File:Arkanov grob.jpg|thumb|right|Ražnatović's grave]]
A memorial ceremony in Ražnatović's honour was held on 19 January 2000, with writer [[Branislav Crnčević]], [[Yugoslav Left]] official [[Aleksandar Vulin]], singers [[Oliver Mandić]], [[Toni Montano]], and [[Zoran Kalezić]], along with the entire first team of [[FK Obilić]], including club director Dragoslav Šekularac, in attendance.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-02 |title=Šta je ostalo od Arkanove garde - Kriminal - Nedeljnik Vreme |url=https://www.vreme.com/vreme/sta-je-ostalo-od-arkanove-garde/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220102203338/https://www.vreme.com/vreme/sta-je-ostalo-od-arkanove-garde/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2022-01-02 |access-date=2024-05-20 }}</ref> Ražnatović was buried at the [[Belgrade New Cemetery]] with military honours by his volunteers<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arkan Buried in Belgrade |url=https://apnews.com/article/ff90b8421c9842bd22f92956bb29652a |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}</ref> and with [[funeral rite]]s on 20 January 2000. Sources dispute the number of people that attended, but most sources state between 2,000<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-07-08 |title=BBC News {{!}} EUROPE {{!}} In pictures: Arkan is buried |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/612295.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708124334/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/612295.stm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-07-08 |access-date=2024-05-20 }}</ref> to 10,000 people attended the funeral.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Warlord, Now a Serbian Patriot, Is Buried |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/012100serbia-arkan.html |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2000-01-21 |title=Arkan buried: 'Tigers' militia salute Serb warlord |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/21/balkans |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

===Trials===
Dobrosav Gavrić pleaded not guilty but was convicted and sentenced to 19 years in prison. His accomplices received from 3 to 15 years each, after a year-long trial in 2002. However, the district court verdict was overturned by the Supreme Court because of "lack of evidence and vagueness of the first trial process". A new trial was conducted in 2006, ending on 9 October 2006 with guilty verdicts upheld for Gavrić as well as his accomplices, Milan Đuričić and Dragan Nikolić. Gavrić was sentenced to 30 years in prison, as well as Đuričić and Nikolić, for murder in complicity.<ref>[http://mondo.rs/a47127/Info/Srbija/Sedam-godina-od-ubistva-Arkana.html Sedam godina od ubistva Arkana]; mondo.rs, 15 January 2007.</ref>

Prior to carrying out his sentence, however, Gavrić obtained a passport from Bosnia and Herzegovina under the name Saša Kovačević and fled Serbia. In March 2011, he was driving a crime boss, Cyril Beeka, in Cape Town, South Africa when a gunman on a motorbike opened fire on them, killing Beeka and wounding Gavrić. Cocaine was found in the vehicle they were in, leading to Gavrić being fingerprinted and his true identity discovered. Since that time, he has been incarcerated in South Africa and fighting his extradition to Serbia where his 2006 sentence awaits him. {{As of|February 2021}}, he is still fighting his extradition to Serbia in South African courts.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dolley |first=Caryn |date=2021-02-10 |title=UNDERWORLD SAGA: A jailed Serbian assassin's 10-year battle against extradition from SA – and his failed bids for freedom |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-02-10-a-jailed-serbian-assassins-10-year-battle-against-extradition-from-sa-and-his-failed-bids-for-freedom/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219164414/https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-02-10-a-jailed-serbian-assassins-10-year-battle-against-extradition-from-sa-and-his-failed-bids-for-freedom/ |archive-date=2022-12-19 |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}</ref>