Editing Arkan (section)

==Criminal career==
===Western Europe===
In 1972, aged 20, Ražnatović migrated to Western Europe.<ref name="Arkanova ostavština"/> Abroad, he was introduced to and kept contact with many well-known criminals from Yugoslavia, such as [[Ljubomir Magaš|Ljuba Zemunac]], [[Ranko Rubežić]], [[Đorđe Božović|Đorđe "Giška" Božović]], and [[Goran Vuković]], all of whom were also occasionally contracted by the [[State Security Administration (Yugoslavia)|UDBA]], and all of whom have since been assassinated or otherwise died. Ražnatović took the nickname "Arkan" from one of his forged [[passport]]s. On 28 December 1973, he was arrested in Belgium following a bank robbery, and was sentenced to ten years in prison.<ref name="Arkanova ostavština"/> In 1974, Ražnatović was active in [[Sweden]] and among other crimes robbed a bank in [[Kungälv]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johansson |first=Kristian |date=2023-12-26 |title=Anne-Marie var med om bankrånet på Nordmannatorget 1974 |url=https://www.kungalvsposten.se/nyheter/anne-marie-var-med-om-bankranet-pa-nordmannatorget-1974.cafb7933-c331-4564-a771-3e466112af7e |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=Kungälvs-Posten |language=sv}}</ref>

Ražnatović managed to escape from the [[Verviers]] prison on 4 July 1979.<ref name="Arkanova ostavština"/> Although he was apprehended in the Netherlands on 24 October 1979, the few months he was free were enough for at least two more armed robberies in Sweden and three more in the Netherlands. Serving a seven-year sentence at a prison in [[Amsterdam]], Ražnatović pulled off another escape on 8 May 1981 after someone slipped him a gun. Wasting no time, more robberies followed, this time in [[West Germany]], where after less than a month of freedom he was arrested in [[Frankfurt]] on 5 June 1981 following a jewellery store stickup. In the ensuing shootout with police he was lightly wounded, resulting in his placement in the prison hospital ward. Looser security allowed Ražnatović to escape again only four days later, on 9 June, supposedly by jumping from the window, beating up the first passerby and stealing his clothing before disappearing.<ref name="Arkanova ostavština"/> His final Western European arrest occurred in [[Basel]], Switzerland, during a routine traffic check on 15 February 1983. However, he managed to escape again within months, this time from [[Thorberg Castle|Thorberg]] prison on 27 April.

It is widely speculated that Ražnatović was closely affiliated with the [[State Security Administration (Yugoslavia)|UDBA]] throughout his criminal career abroad.<ref name="Arkanova ostavština"/> He had convictions or warrants in Belgium (bank robberies, prison escape), the Netherlands (armed robberies, prison escape), Sweden (twenty burglaries, seven bank robberies, prison escape, [[attempted murder]]),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-03-01 |title=Aftonbladet nyheter: Kriget om Kosovo |url=http://wwwc.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/9903/31/kosovo5.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301221147/http://wwwc.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/9903/31/kosovo5.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-03-01 |access-date=2024-05-20 }}</ref> West Germany (armed robberies, prison escape), Austria, Switzerland (armed robberies, prison escape), and Italy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-10-26 |title=Vreme 993 - Deset godina od ubistva Zeljka Raznatovica: Arkanova ostavstina |url=http://www.vreme.com/cms/view.php?id=906970 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026053638/http://www.vreme.com/cms/view.php?id=906970 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-10-26 |access-date=2024-05-20 }}</ref> Ražnatović had achieved the status in the Belgrade underworld of earning ''"strahopoštovanje"'', a Serbo-Croat phrase that roughly translates as being "respected for fear".{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=321}} ''Strahopoštovanje'' was generally achieved in the Yugoslav underworld by committing violent crimes in Western Europe, being arrested and convicted, serving a sentence in a Western European prison, and terrorizing the other inmates to such an extent that the said criminal became the most feared inmate in the prison.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=321}} In the macho world of the Yugoslav underworld, having ''strahopoštovanje'' status was seen as proof of a criminal's toughness and masculinity.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=321}}

===Return to Yugoslavia===
Ražnatović returned to Belgrade in May 1983, continuing his criminal career by managing a number of illegal activities. In November of that year, six months after his return, a bank in Zagreb was robbed with the thieves leaving a rose on the counter (allegedly Ražnatović's signature from his robberies in Western Europe).<ref name="Arkanova ostavština" /> Looking to question Ražnatović about his whereabouts during the robbery, two policemen, members of the Secretariat of Internal Affairs' (SUP) Tenth department from the Belgrade municipality of [[Palilula, Belgrade|Palilula]], showed up in civilian clothing at his mother's apartment on 27 March Street in Belgrade.<ref name="Arkanova ostavština" /> Ražnatović happened to not be home at the moment, so the policemen introduced themselves to his mother as "friends of her son looking to return a cash debt they owed him" and asked the woman if they could wait for him to return to the apartment. Ražnatović's mother phoned him to say that two unknown males waited for him.<ref name="Arkanova ostavština" /> Ražnatović showed up with a [[revolver]] and proceeded to shoot and wound both policemen. He was detained immediately; however, barely 48 hours later, he was released. The occurrence made it clear to all observers, especially his criminal rivals, that he enjoyed protection from the highest echelons of the Yugoslav state security establishment.

Ražnatović spent the mid-1980s running the Amadeus [[discothèque]] together with Žika Živac and Tapi Malešević. Located in the [[Tašmajdan]] neighbourhood, the nightclub was reportedly another perk of their contractual work for the UDBA.<ref name="Arkanova ostavština" /> Moreover, Ražnatović could be seen driving around Belgrade in a pink [[Cadillac]] and gambling on [[roulette]] in casinos all over the country, from Belgrade (Hotel "Slavija") and nearby [[Pančevo]] to [[Sveti Stefan]] (Hotel Maestral on the [[Budva Riviera#Miločer|Miločer]] beach) and [[Portorož]] (Hotel Metropol).<ref name="Arkanova ostavština" />

An avid gambler, following a private game of [[poker]] in an apartment at Ive Lole Ribara Street in Belgrade, Ražnatović got into an elevator altercation with a tenant from the apartment building, reportedly breaking the man's arm after beating him with a gun. Ražnatović could not avoid being charged this time and the trial saw a notable exchange between him and the judge; during the pre-session identification, Ražnatović stated he was an employee of the Secretariat of Internal Affairs (SUP). When this was challenged by the [[prosecutor]], Ražnatović produced a document summarizing a mortgage loan he obtained from the UDBA for his house at Ljutice Bogdana Street. He ended up receiving a six-month sentence, which he served at the Belgrade Central Prison.<ref name="Arkanova ostavština" /> In the late 1980s, a [[football hooligan]] subculture had emerged in Yugoslavia and the unruly and rowdy fans of the Red Star Belgrade football team were seen as a major social problem.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=319}} At the request of the Ministry of the Interior, Ražnatović took over the ''Delije'' ("Heroes") fan club of Red Star Belgrade in an attempt to impose some control on the hooligans.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=319}} Ražnatović quickly became a hero to the ''Delije'' club by his ability to arrange for them to go to Western Europe whenever Red Star Belgrade played a game in a Western European city.{{sfn|Schlichte|2010|p=319}}