Serb Volunteer Guard

The Serb Volunteer Guard was an elite Serbian volunteer paramilitary unit founded and led by Željko Ražnatović (better known as "Arkan"). It was recognized for its superior bearing and discipline, fighting in the Croatian War and the Bosnian War during the Yugoslav Wars. Considered one of the most feared and effective paramilitary forces during the conflicts, the unit was also responsible for numerous war crimes and massacres. The group operated with backing from elements of the Serbian State Security Directorate and was disbanded in April 1996. Arkan was later indicted for war crimes but was assassinated before he could stand trial.

History and organization

The SDG was created on 11 October 1990 by twenty members of the Red Star Belgrade football club Ultra group Delije Sever. The rowdy football hooligans of the Delije ("Heroes") club-who were devoted to the Red Star Belgrade football team-were seen as a serious social problem by the late 1980s, and the gangster Ražnatović had taken over the Delije club at the request of the Ministry of the Interior as a way to control the hooligans. Ražnatović was already a living legend in the Belgrade underworld on the account of his criminal exploits both in Yugoslavia and in Western Europe, and he rapidly 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 with Ražnatović paying for their transport and motel costs. In Communist Yugoslavia, organised crime had an institutionalised role in the economy to provide goods and services that were otherwise difficult to obtain. This was especially the case as the policy of "market socialism" that was introduced in 1964 led to a hybrid economy with a capitalist economy co-existing with a communist economy.