In the end of 2013, a group of men, including Veljko Belivuk and other Partizan supporters, participated in demolishing of the Belgrade Hollywood café, owned by Aleksandar Vavić. At the same time, the leading group of supporters Alkatraz and the newly-established group Janjičari were fighting for dominance on the south stands.
Documents which are for the first time published by the Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS) reveal that following the incident, member of the Gendarmerie Nenad Vučković – Vučko took over the keys of a car in which the attackers were riding. However, the prosecutor’s office never interviewed Vučković in relation to his role in this event.
Media wrote about Vučković and his connections with Partizan supporters and the Janjičari group on several occasions. Thus, the Insajder published a photo from the stands on which he was in the company of the murdered Aleksandar Stanković, called Sale Mutavi, but also the several times convicted Veljko Belivuk, known as Velja Nevolja.
Stanković was killed in October 2016 in the vicinity of the District (Central) prison in Belgrade, when he was shot at several times by the still unidentified attacker.
The last salute to Sale Mutavi
Aleksandar Stanković was killed in mid-October last year, and the athletes from Partizan club paid the last respect to the departed supporter. The players came to the games wearing tee-shirts with the picture of Sale Mutavi, which the Administration explained as a spontaneous reaction of players, while in his interview for Newsweek Belivuk said that the layers had to wear the t-shirts.
Besides the tee-shirts with his photo, there were numerous obituaries in the papers. Thus, in the Večernje novosti, a whole page was published with the “Last salute to the best man” signed by Vučko, as well as the “Last salute to brother”, where Stanković was signed as Tigar, while the group of nick-names also comprised Velja, Vučko, and Karapandža. The obituary “To the forever mourned brother and best man to be” was signed by Karapandža and Sale struja.
Photo: Screenshot B92.net
At the press conference held in the end of October 2016, answering the questions asked by the Insajder journalist about the engagement of Nenad Vučković in law enforcement, Serbia’s minister of the interior Nebojša Stefanović confirmed that Vučković was employed with the Gendarmerie. Stefanović said that he was familiar with the fact that Vučković was a supporter of Partizan, and that it was not a criminal offence. He also stated that Vučković was transferred to law enforcement from the military.
Until October 2016, Vučković was also a member of the Assembly of the Partizan football club as a representative of a group of supporters.
In April 2016, members of the Working group which managed Partizan, including Milorad Vučelić, president of the Sports association Partizan, accused Vučković of having ordered supporters to throw eggs at members of the Administration at the football match Partizan – Mladost from Lučani, together with Novak Nedić, Secretary general of Serbian Government. In its press release, the group stated that Vučković and Nedić “tended to expand the atmosphere of fear and public lynch” so as to prevent the Assembly session.
CINS has already written about Novak Nedić‘s influence in Partizan.
The public does not know much about Vučković and his role on the stands. CINS journalists tried to establish the grounds on which he was engaged first in the military, and then in law enforcement. Sources from the Ministry of defense did not submit information, stating that they could not possibly establish who it was all about. The Ministry of the interior (MUP) replied to the question of whether internal control procedures were conducted against Vučković in the same manner; it also failed to respond for four and a half months to the request for access to information of public importance on his engagement with the Gendarmerie.
In February 2017, Military trade union of Serbia filed criminal charges to the Republic Public prosecutor’s office against a brigadier general and a colonel of Serbian Armed Forces for suspicion that they had committed abuse of office, and that, in the period between February and June 2016 they made it possible for persons who were not members of Serbian Armed Forces to use shooting ranges, weapons, and ammunition belonging to the Armed Forces. They stated that together with these individuals the shooting range was also used by a person known by the nick-name of Vučko.
Following demolishing, they gave car keys to Vučković
In the late afternoon of a December day in 2013, a group of young men entered Hollywood café in the Belgrade settlement of Karaburma and demolished it. The café was owned by Aleksandar Vavić, the then leader the Partizan support group Alkatraz, who had been sentenced to one year and 10 months of imprisonment for inflicting wounds with a knife.
Soon after the demolishing of Hollywood café, four men were arrested.
At that time there was a conflict on Partizan stands between the then leading group of supporters Alkatraz and the newly-established group with the symbolic name of Janjičari (Janissaries), as it was comprised of former supporters of other teams as well.
Although the criminal charges state Vučković as the person who Srećković handed the keys of the car which was used in the course of the demolishing, according to the information from the First basic public prosecutor’s office in Belgrade, he was never even interviewed in relation to this case.
According to the data from the criminal charges and the police report, several Partizan supporters took part in the demolishing of the club, with Veljko Belivuk, one of Janjičari leaders, among the suspects.
As stated in the police report, late in the afternoon of that day Belivuk came in a Dodge vechicle to the indoor football pitch in which a tournament of Partizan supporters was held in the Belgrade municipality of Palilula.
He came in and greeted several people, including Boris Karapandžić and Aleksandar Savković, who died on Sunday 17 December 2017 following a shooting in Belgrade club Nana.
Belivuk learned from Savković and Karapandžić that there had been a fight – following that he called Velibor Srećković and told him that he should come to Karaburma for some business.
Belivuk left that place with other supporters and rode to Karaburma in a white Dodge accompanied by two other vehicles – a Golf 5 and a Golf 6.
In Karaburma they were joined by Srećković in an Audi A6, and they went together to café Hollywood in Pere Ćetkovića street.
Video surveillance footage published at the portal of the Alo daily
About 15 men, including Belivuk, Savković, Karapandžić, Aleksandar Vučeljić, and Stevan Petrović came out of the four vehicles. Most of them just went to the café to destroy belongings, while Srećković remained outside.
According to the police report, several minutes after the demolishing the men left the café, sat in the car, and drove off. Srećković entered the Audi A6 with two more men, while Belivuk and several others entered the Dodge. The others rode in the golfs.
Shortly afterwards, Srećković and Belivuk were by the Pionir sports hall and Belivuk gave Srećković the keys of the Dodge. Following this, Srećković met Nenad Vučković in the Pionir sports hall and gave him the keys of the Audi A6. Then he returned to the Dodge and left home, together with one of the men who accompanied him in the car to Pionir.
Even though the criminal charges state Vučković as the person who Srećković gave the keys of the car used in the course of the demolishing, according to the notification of the First basic public prosecutor’s office in Belgrade, he was not even interviewed in relation to the case.
CINS journalists tried to get in touch with Vučković, but this did not happen prior to the publishing of the text.
Belivuk and Srećković secured Freestyler together
Four days after the demolishing of the café, the police patrol of the Zemun precinct observed the white Dodge for which a warrant had been issued in Vrtoglavska street.
The police stopped the car; in it, they recognized Duško Petković and Velibor Srećković, who was interviewed on the same day. In the course of the search, they found the ID card of Veljko Belivuk.
At the hearing held in August 2014, Srećković denied the criminal offence. On this occasion, he told the prosecutor that he worked at Freestyler boat club as security, together with Belivuk.
Srećković said that he had arranged to meet Belivuk in the vicinity of the Pionir sports hall on 14 December so that Belivuk could return him the keys of the car he had been using for his holidays. He rode to the place in an Audi A6 which he had borrowed from a friend, while yet another person accompanied him. Srećković claimed that he had not known that the meeting point was in front of Hollywood cafe, and that Belivuk had already been inside when he came. He remained in front of the café, and happened to see the demolishing when he came closer. He knew the other suspects by sight.
The documents obtained by CINS indicate that the prosecution asked neither Belivuk or Srećković about the other participants in the event, or about the role of Nenad Vučković, even though his name was mentioned in the police report.
It remains unclear why Srećković drove to Hollywood if he had arranged to meet Belivuk in the vicinity of Pionir sports hall, as the facilities are not located in the same street.
According to the data from the police report, Belivuk was interviewed only in April 2014, when he acted in his own defense. At the hearing held on 23 February 2015, it was recorded that no other proceedings were being conducted against him, even though at that time proceedings were held against him for aggravated attempted murder and illegal possession of weapons in the course of an incident from 2007 which took place in front of BlayWatch boat club. In September 2015, the charges were modified; thus, instead of attempted murder of two young men, he was charged with infliction of grave bodily harm to Bojan M.
According to the decision of the First basic prosecutor’s office in Belgrade, criminal charges for violent behaviour against Belivuk were dropped on 19 March 2015 as he had met the obligation of paying 100,000 dinars.
In May 2016, the Fist basic prosecutor’s office passed the decision on dismissal of criminal charges in the case of Velibor Srećković too following his payment of the amount of 40,000 dinars.
Belivuk is currently remanded for suspicion that he had assisted the murder of Vlastimir Milošević which took place in January this year, while Belivuk was waiting for the beginning of execution of the sentence of house arrest for violent behaviour in front of the Partizan stadium.
The documents obtained by CINS indicate that the prosecution asked neither Belivuk nor Srećković about other participants in the event, nor were they asked about the role of Nenad Vučković, although his name is mentioned in the police report.
Prison sentences only for some
Details from the criminal charges indicate that four vehicles drove to the Hollywood cafe. Some of those who came in these cars put on phantom under-caps and hoodies. Entering the café, some of them held weapons, even though there was a woman with a baby in the café, wife of Aleksandar Vavić. When the guests left the café, a group of 14-15 individuals started demolishing the cafe.
These details may also be seen on photos from surveillance cameras in the café and in front of it; they were published by the Alo daily.
Shortly after the incident, the police arrested Aleksandar Vučeljić, Aleksandar Savković, Boris Karapandžić, and Stevan Petrović. Vučeljić and Savković were wearing bullet-proof vests under their jackets, while behind the driver’s seat there was a 9mm bullet. In the course of the search another 9mm bullet was found, as well as two guns with armor-piercing and regular bullets.
On 15 December 2013, the police filed criminal charges against them for violent behaviour and illegal possession of weapons.
Vučković in a photo with a security guard from Vučić’s inauguration
Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK) identified Borko Aranitović as a person close to the group of Aleksandar Stanković and as a participant in the attack against journalists in the course of inauguration of Aleksandar Vučić. KRIK published a photo presenting Aranitović sitting in a restaurant with his arms around Vučković and another man. KRIK published that based on Aranitović’s Facebook profile and footage from the cameras it was established that he had worked as security guard at Freestyler and Tilt clubs. In mid-November 2017, the First basic prosecutor’s office dismissed the criminal charges filed by journalists because of the attacks in the course of the inauguration.
In December 2013, the First basic prosecutor’s office in Belgrade filed criminal charges, while on 7 April 2016 the First basic court passed an acquitting decision. Aleksandar Savković was sentenced to one year of imprisonment, while Stevan Petrović was sentenced to the total of 10 months of imprisonment both for violent behaviour and possession of weapons.
At that time, Boris Karapandžić had already been sentenced to a three-year prison terms by the decision of the Belgrade Court of Appeals for drugs manufacturing and trafficking, as well as to the seven month prison term from December 2015 for illegal possession of weapons. This is why the First basic court sentenced him with a summary sentence of four years of imprisonment. His Facebook profile reveals that he is an active Partizan supporter – featuring his photos from the stands in the company of Belivuk and Stanković, but other leaders of supporters as well.
Aleksandar Vučeljić had also been previously convicted – for violent behaviour, weapons trafficking and carrying, as well as for organizing a network of hard drug traffickers – to prison terms of seven months, two years, and five years and three months respectively; thus, the Firs basic court sentenced him to a six year prison term.
The Blic daily reported that the four individuals had been working as security guards at a boat-club in New Belgrade and were interviewed in August in relation to the investigation of murder of Fedor Frimerman.
Investigating the case which took place in front of the boat-club Sound, CINS established that Karapandžić was one of the witnesses who happened to be on the spot in the Frimerman case, which is why he was interrogated by the investigating judge and at the main hearing.
According to the statements made by witnesses, several members of security of boat-club Sound participated in the fight which resulted in Frimerman’s death, but also individuals who would join running from the adjacent club Freestyler. However, the charges were raised only against the four participants in the fight, while following the decision of the Belgrade Court of appeals the case was reset, which annulled the convicting sentence passed in the first instance.
The story was produced within the project “Supervision of public policies: prEUgovor covers reforms in Chapter 23 and Chapter 24” supported by the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.
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