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Ancient Greeks believed that there is only one war.
They embodied it in their God, Ares.
Modern man sees only conquests.
If war is a matter of decision, he could finish it by wish.
Events in Yugoslavia uncover this illusion once more.
Serbia was spared of war destructions, but river Drina, border between Bosnia and Serbia,
didn't stop the spirits from underground.
At the accesses to Belgrade,
weaponry enough for whole battalion were seized.
However, number of pacifists was smaller with every day.
I explained you already, I was the first one who shooted in Belgrade.
That was in 1986. You know how much old that is?
Nowadays, everyone shoots. But that's not it.
I'm telling you, that's because of war.
Nothing else but that.
Ilija Vujiæ and Darko Lonèariæ, returnees from the battlefield,
on December 1st 1993, killed a 13-year old Davor Žigiæ and his mother Verica.
Vujiæ shot the woman in the liver.
He learned in war that victim lives longer that way.
He asked her where she hides money, but the family hadn't any at all.
When we asked him: ''Why did you kill child?''
Belgrade police inspector
''You had mother there, she'd tell you everything.''
He said...
''*** the kid, he had to be at school.
He wasn't supposed to be there.''
When we heard this, it was a 2 minute silence, 'cause we couldn't believe what he just said.
Vujiæ and Lonèariæ described their crime in one of the Belgrade's nightclubs.
However, none of the guests didn't felt the urge to call the police.
Killers didn't had police record.
They were given death penalty.
In a first two year of war, 300,000 young and educated people left Serbia.
These are photos of most talented and gifted ones in their domains.
This is Serbian Wailing wall.
Commander of river police
Why would someone who didn't brought as a personality,
work his guts out for some miserable paid,
if he can reach money and the glory the far easy way?
With honest job, you can't make any money.
Because state is under sanctions, budget is minimal,
one cannot work for 100 DEM monthly.
Youth decided: Better all than nothing.
People who stayed, had a choice;
To be an outsider, or defer to the new elite and its values.
Experience of their parents was harsh:
They didn't want to be starved to death like them.
They let so easily that the excuses of the state be legitimacy for their behavior.
During 1993, dinar lost 313 million % of its value.
Young people had an impression that life's running away in a speed of light.
Bane Grebenareviæ, 20 years of age.
He shoot at his opponent in one of the Belgrade's gyms.
Because of the police warrant, he ran away to Budapest.
Ordinary mortals? That's normal people,
let's say - people who live normal life.
We call them ordinary mortals because what we go through in a single day,
he does not in their whole lifetime.
No way they can experience so much thrill, disappointment,
such beauty nor bad things in their whole life, as we experience in a single day.
State TV spoke day and night in a manner of soap operas.
Youth didn't felt the world with their own feelings.
It was spoken with other people's words.
I wanna be a photo-model.
All has a 5 minute of glory, but drown after. I wanna be always on the surface.
I wanna be seen and known by all.
Mihajlo Divac, 28 years of age.
Member of New Belgrade gangs.
You see, I don't know for any other life.
This is interesting for me.
All of this goes with risk and challenge.
Something that I can never live without.
Guys from Voždovac and New Belgrade.
Bata Trlajiæ, 31 years of age.
Member of New Belgrade clan.
Owner of the restaurant and nightclub.
Many times convicted for serious crime offenses.
All are without money. The cheapest fun is to buy a handgun,
or to to steal some ''Scorpio'' gun of 300-400 DEM,
and to start to shoot. Just to go out of depression.
To go out in the papers.
Aleksandar Kneževiæ Knele, shot at 21 years of age
in Belgrade's ''Hyatt'' hotel, where he spent last months of his life.
He was a member of Voždovac clan.
Idol of young people who wants everything and now.
Death made him immortal, set him in the center of mythology of a new generation.
Now, he's an idol and myth of the generation, which even today walks the streets of Belgrade.
Short haircut, gym suits indrew into jeans.
What kind of culture is that?
Such bald guy with gym suit of 150, 200-300 DEM, indrew into jeans...
In the West, any ordinary policeman would stop and legitimate him, check him, interrogate him...
Kristijan Goluboviæ, 25 years of age.
As a minor, arrested in Düsseldorf for an armed robbery.
He spent 3.5 years in prison.
Extradited to Serbian police because of the crimes which he commited in Belgrade.
They arrest thieves, but not real thieves.
What are police doing!? Chasing the smalltime crooks.
A guy who goes in a store to steal a video-recorder, to sell it.
Maybe circumstances forced him to, as nowadays.
What is state giving? Nothing at all.
It was tend to build a society with certain ethic standards,
which were propagated at the time,
but the very same who propagated those ethics,
didn't stand behind that with their own example.
90% of population feels every tragedy of this war, all difficulties of this sanctions,
while criminals are flourishing. People who support them - flourish too.
Holes in the justice, holes in the prosecution,
completely corrupted advocacy, and so on...
A legal state can't function like this, as nowadays.
Every young man would wish to be involved in this.
At least for 5 minutes.
Everyone.
To drive around in some shiny new car, with hot girl and a bit of gold around his neck.
Until war, Yugoslavia dealed with crime in its own distinctive way.
Criminals were given an easier way to go abroad.
Božidar Spasiæ. 25 years of work in Federal State Security Service.
Last nine years, he was a chief of the group for special missions abroad.
He personally helped the transfer of 120 criminals across the border.
They didn't done nothing here, but abroad, using the suitabilities
which we gave to them... Let me be direct - suitability to use falsified passport. Right?
For example, we know that swiss police is on a manhunt, but they can enter with that passport.
They used these suitabilities there, made actions of their own
coming back down here full of money,
so there wasn't any need to steal here. Moreover,
they'd spend everything and go later for a new round.
Thousands of criminals got back at the beginning of the war in 1991.
In the meantime, new generations, which hierarchy and share interests didn't meant nothing to, were matured.
As we all know, that's nothing but a complex.
We are such people, with complexes.
We fight for a name, for some *** authority.
If we have an interest, I'd understood it.
I can't go shoot all over, and later expect to make a business and be in the papers.
So, they having a fun just to become famous.
Nothing else. What business? I'm telling you,
you can shake them all out of their pants, you wouldn't find 10 DEM.
In a first two years of war, degree of murders in Belgrade rose 100%.
Police didn't solve half of the cases.
It gained impression that crime can be committed without impunity.
Mark of the time were statements of criminals in the papers:
They talked publicly about their crimes, made an insults and calls for a payoff.
Those scary statements are big thing for the normal people, as you call them,
they think: ''This guy must be tough.''
But recently, when I read the papers and see the pictures of these hoodlums,
they are funny to me. Like little girls.
Ðuro Radonjiæ ''The Count''. 35 years of age.
For armed robberies, spent 11.5 years in Austrian, German and Dutch prisons.
Owner of several boutiques and restaurants in Belgrade.
This insulting over the papers, that's...
They can all just get shot. Why do they need this?
They all can live and share it...
Everyone can have enough money, but...
They're probably young, they'll realize it one day if they live until.
Dejan Marjanoviæ ''Redneck'', 21 years of age.
Shot in front of his building in the middle of the day.
Two minors were arrested for ***.
Few weeks earlier, Marjanoviæ was proclaimed in the papers as ''The New King of Zvezdara'',
which is part of the city where he lived.
Probably because of similar statements, bomb was thrown in the bar nearby.
Only by chance, there wasn't any victims.
There are lots of weapons here because of this war.
People are not skilled, someone told them that's the way of doing. Like, you just throw it...
Provoked by the statements of the rivals that they doesn't rule in their own street,
let alone in the half of the city, members of Voždovac clan
answered in their own way.
We go down the boulevard... How's the name of that ***' street?
We'll take picture there.
In front of Porsche, there is Porsche.
Park somewhere in front of Porsche.
There is Porsche on the corner.
Let's take a picture by the Porsche.
Let me park somewhere.
Move back.
Here is Porsche.
Let's take a picture there and then we're off.
These are the real photos, this have to go out in the press.
One needs to be smart with these things.
Especially 'cause you deal with lunatics.
That's even bigger problem.
You can predict a normal guy, but you cannot predict lunatic after him.
I mean, you can, but that's catastrophy.
That's the problem.
Boris Petkov, 38 years of age.
For *** of famous felon in 1985 in Belgrade,
he got 7 years. For armed robbery in Austria,
he was sentenced to 11.5, but did only 6 years of imprisonment.
He looked at me, and I reacted.
Because I'm provoked when someone look at me that way.
Then I headed towards him, he stood up,
I made 2 or 3 steps, he shoot me with 4-5 bullets.
One bullet hit me in the stomach, and the other one in my arm.
But I still headed towards him.
And I said: ''I'll cram that gun up in your ***.''
Clashes became especially frequent and brutal in big and poor municipality of New Belgrade.
Situation becomes harsher with every day.
Let's clear that up. Because...
As I would say: ''A small pond full of crocodiles.''
Everyone are socially threatened, they're financially weak.
The saddest thing is they don't know how to make a money.
They can't to find themselves.
Let them work in a factory.
Predrag Vladušiæ Member of the opponent clan
As for the drugs, there's a bunch of kids who have their bosses who persuade them
to this, see... They give them guns, and a bit of drugs to get high, you see,
and then send them to their enemies.
These kids, without even knowing, can suffer, you see.
They go like crazy, you see.
They watch movies like ''Scarface'' and all those about drug cartels,
They conceit... Every gang has their own conceited Escobar at the head, whom they're devoted to.
And many good guys become wasties because of drugs.
Who could've become someone, until a year ago... Now you look at them with sympathy.
You'd have an honour to know such guys.
How many of my friends...
Now, when I meet them on the street, I turn my head.
Just because of drugs.
Current criminal can't reach bigger level than it is... As for the drug intoxication.
By accident, you see, bomb was thrown on my doorstep too... by some junkie,
who was sent by certain guy, and they set my barge on fire too.
Those things were done by kids who had no brains.
Drugs think for them.
They probably couldn't done such thing before getting high.
Trlajiæ's clan lost several members within a short period of time.
Dragan Gariæ was shot.
then Slaviša Paviæ 'Pirke'.
I can tell you about what happened in my caffe, that's not even hooliganism...
That's idiotism, cretenism...
Pirke's ***? -Yeah, Pirke's ***.
Five of mine musicians were hurt then.
Drummer got 6 bullets. A man who had never step on the ant.
Snežana, the singer, got 3 bullets.
Waitress got 2 bullets in the stomach.
That was disaster.
That was classic ambush with ''Scorpio'' gun.
It blasted everywhere.
When I got back there, there were rivers of blood.
Squealing and screaming, massacred people.
Not pleasant at all.
I didn't notice then, but I saw that one of them is dead.
A guy like Pirke had to be shot,
only if ten people got hurt.
I give you secure and checked information,
that the guy who killed him, those who fired,
could find him any way they want, any day.
And any time.
It's known how Italians kill, how Colombians kill
when they're tricked for $10 millions. Get it?
Then comes a ***.
But 90% of these youth doesn't know a reason.
If you'd ask them: ''Why you do this?''
They wouldn't know.
This is the answer to crime degree which rules in Belgrade.
Tell me a true single criminal on the West even the Mafia, who kills innocent people.
As far as I know, judge Falcone was murdered with ton of dynamite.
The guy who protected him was killed, and he.
In Belgrade, however, there are exceptions that proves the rule:
To 30-year old businessman, dynamite was put underneath a car.
It was activated in front of casino, which owner lives in the center of the city,
just 100 meters distant from president Slobodan Miloševiæ.
Only single passenger was slightly wounded.
Few days later, a businessman died in a hospital.
Željko Rutoviæ, 31 years of age.
He was never convicted, although he claims that he had a turbulent past.
One of the few who engaged in business with Ukrainian mafia.
He owns several bars and restaurants in Belgrade.
He's an owner of casino in Sochi, Russia, and of jackpot factory.
For example, part of the Sochi is held by Armenians.
The other part held Georgians.
All of them are like brothers. There almost has no murders.
They have a maximum of correctness. They do even more than they tell you.
Believe me.
It happened to me that they call me at hotel in the morning,
this Grisha, who is their boss, a guy in his 50s...
He calls me every morning, saying ''Željko, come now.''
I arranged you a meeting with chief of the airport.
He already prepared everything, I just have to go there.
Within a three words, everything is done.
There is no organized crime in Belgrade yet,
and everything seems that it won't be any at all in the future.
People here must learn to respect each other.
And to respect themselves.
It's all different there. From drugs of street pushers,
up to the mayor of the city, to all those bigshots,
to chief of the police, their share is always known.
All of them work together in the system.
Why our so-called criminals can't make a big jobs?
For example, business of 5 millions DEM can be planned,
which has to be done in a year period,
one of them would take 10,000 DEM at once,
just to cheat the others, rather than taking 100,000 DEM the next year.
It's our mentality...
Those who overcame that,
those criminals are what they are now.
Bojan Petroviæ, 35 years of age.
For *** of well-known criminal in Belgrade in 1985,
he got 5 years in jail.
He was accused for armed robbery in Gothenburg in 1983.
Ran away from prison after one year.
On the list of Swedish police, he's placed seventh.
He tried to introduce innovations in providing protection for bar owners in Gothenburg.
As there were 9 of us in our gang,
I've had this other concept. They were just doin' robberies.
I mean, that's primitive way.
I thought of doing this in a more polite manner.
But they were a bit half-cocked, ''better today than tomorrow'',
I've planned it for the long run, we could take the whole city
'cause there were no rivalry at all.
They've been scared of us, they'd give us money to leave them alone.
In this ''Bahus'' restaurant, owner had gaving us 25% of profit.
After certain deeds we done to force him to agreement on cooperation.
There is lots of generations, so it means that they were worth
and they've passed various exams. As for me...
In sort of way, my idol is Arkan.
He reached astonishing level of organization, unlike many here, in our country.
That's very hard with our people.
Željko Ražnatoviæ 'Arkan', 44 years of age.
Ex-minister of Serbian parliament and commander of paramilitary units.
Owner of several companies.
One of the richest people in Yugoslavia.
About his youth, he says that it was naughty,
although he's marked as a brutal criminal in Serbia and in whole World.
It threatens to him for war crimes in Hague as well.
I told it many times in english, that's simple:
I don't care.
The most jobs we did when Giške went out of the prison in Italy.
In Vienna.
When all big criminals from all over Europe celebrated there.
There were smuggling from Germany, Austria, Italy,
and we went to this really prestigious nightclub.
I remember, I paid 300,000 schillings then.
Me only. But there was more.
I remember that we opened up 150 ''Dom Pérignons''.
We stayed at ''Plaza'' hotel. That's the best hotel in Monte Carlo.
It has its own beach, casino, everything... Really great.
Par excellence.
Everything was OK, until we start to do our little jobs separately.
I did this American guy,
and we took $5,000. And some American credit card.
We were foolin' around, coming late, you know... room-service and stuff.
We were goofing around and there were alot of us.
So we started to upset them.
Partying at the disco, you know. We became noticeable.
Police inquired about us who we are... and we got busted eventually.
They expelled us from Nice to Monte Carlo, that's not even 2 km of distance.
We returned the same way they expelled us. So we continued with work.
Everything is short-lived, everything is about acknowledging.
You see, wrong picture was made about all this.
That's not like it at all. It's nothing but problems,
troubles, jails and all... Nothing but that.
I've been predominantly in those solitaries and isolated rooms.
A I said, acknowledging is important. I'd hit everyone in the face after single word,
primarily because I didn't knew German very well at start.
Being said in a joke or serious, their word ''Ascho'' could be an insult
even it doesn't mean nothing on our language.
I'd just hit the guy even if he say it in a joke.
Then I'd go to solitary... I went crazy there.
That's madness.
A madness which consists of countless madnesses in a single place.
That's how the humans psyche is, when you know that you're followed,
when you know that you're watched 24 hours a day.
You'd break this camera thousands of times,
with rubber bullet like me - and get nose deviation.
Triple jaw fracture. That's horrible things.
When I told people about this, they thought I'm lying.
Jail had none of its charms, except maybe I didn't rat no one,
'cause I did sentence for something I didn't had to,
and I can look myself in the mirror and say...
I did my time for what I've done.
I did my time for others as well, and no one didn't for me.
I don't owe anyone.
I tended to take my life exactly eight times.
I survived with drawing, writing, statuary...
making beads, etc... Trainings, countless trainings.
With every other day, I worked out more and more.
Thousands of push-ups, thousands of abs,
running away to this sort of common sense.
You have to survive, you're young, this is in front of you,
prove that untruth and injustice are worse than this what you're doing,
and so on, so on...
This is just my thought, but I guess, of those guys too...
My generation, but older ones think similarily...
This is far better life than the one we used to live once.
Of course, we get hot sometimes even nowadays, but...
It's better this way, to have a wife, a child...
You don't need to think about tomorrow.
They all see better stuff, no one sees some bad things about this.
When young guys in their 20s go to grave, to jail...
When they become crippled, they doesn't see it.
Psychological pressure is biggest thing. You must watch who's looking you,
who's going behind your back, where do you sleep and eat,
what you do, did you parked your car properly...
That's horrible psychological pressure.
To be honest, I washed my brains out from thinking where I made a mistake,
what's my blame to this country.
As long as I thought about it, I can't figure out why they wanna
take my head off. What's my blame?
Whom I did what? I don't understand nothing.
Goran Vukoviæ, 35 years of age.
In front of district court in Frankfurt in 1986, he killed Ljubomir Magaš,
leader of the Serbian undergound. He got 5 years in jail.
After return to Belgrade, he survived five *** attempts.
First time, his car was shot with antitank launcher missile.
Among other attacks, two state policemen wounded him on January 14th, 1993.
At the time, it was spoken about secret police liquidation list
with some of the names of Voždovac clan members.
There is a list. We know at least for 3-4 months for this.
We knew that I was on that list, that Knele was too.
Romeo Saviæ, 25 years of age.
Deceased on November 8th, 1994 by uncleared circumstances.
A few weeks earlier, he spoke about policemen - drug traffickers.
But if they attack our families, then, we know too.
There are lots of weapons in the city, you can buy whatever you want.
If it comes to this, we'll defend ourselves.
With every possible means. Every way we know.
I don't say we can defend, but we will try.
If one needs this, to use weapons
let them try.
Bojan Banoviæ, 19 years of age.
Killed in a clash on November 19, 1994.
On this occasion, Miodrag Baškaloviæ was also severely wounded.
Goran Vukoviæ was murdered on December 12th, 1994
in the center of the city in his BMW 850.
Unknown attacker shot him 25 times with automatic weapon.
Goran Vukoviæ was buried between Bojan Banoviæ and Romeo Saviæ,
in the same row where is grave of Aleksandar Kneževiæ Knele.
What I had to do? To retreat after that *** shot me?
I don't believe in this, that's story just for wannabe bums.
When you start this kind of life, you'll live it to its very end.
Mihajlo Divac was killed on February 12th 1995,
during lasts shots of this movie.
This is third person who lost his life during making of this movie.
Footages from documentation of Igor Spasov were used
Narrator: Dina Èoliæ-Anðelkoviæ
There is more...
Directed by Janko Baljak
I claim - I'm invincible.
B-92 production THE END