The Serbian Guard ( sr, Српска гарда / ''Srpska garda'') was a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

n paramilitary active in the Croatian War with close ties to the

Serbian Renewal Movement The Serbian Renewal Movement ( sr-cyrl, Српски покрет обнове, Srpski pokret obnove, SPO) is a liberal and monarchist political party in Serbia. History The Serbian Renewal Movement party was founded in 1990 through the merge ...

(SPO). Eighty percent of the guard's members were members of the SPO. The paramilitary was formed by SPO official

Vuk Drašković Vuk Drašković ( sr-cyrl, Вук Драшковић, ; born 29 November 1946) is a Serbian writer and politician. He is the leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, and served as the war-time Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugo ...

and his wife Danica Drašković, along with Đorđe Božović "Giška" and Branislav Matić "Beli".Serbian Guard, party army of the SPO
, Danas The paramilitary unit's training camp was located near Bor Lake in

SR Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg , p2 ...

, SFR Yugoslavia. It participated in clashes on the territory of

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Sociali ...

near the town of

Gospić Gospić () is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field ( Ličko Polje). Gospić is the ...

. Elements of the unit also participated in the

War in Bosnia and Herzegovina The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

. Đorđe Božović was the unit's first commander, but was killed in action near Gospić. Some people have alleged that Božović's death was an act of "friendly fire" orchestrated by the

Republic of Serbian Krajina The Republic of Serbian Krajina or Serb Republic of Krajina ( sh, Република Српска Крајина, italics=no / or РСК / ''RSK'', ), known as the Serbian Krajina ( / ) or simply Krajina, was a self-proclaimed Serb proto-state, ...

's government. The unit's chief financier Branislav Matić was gunned down in August 1991 in Belgrade. After the death of Božović, the unit was taken over by Branislav Lainović "Dugi" (The "Long"). Serbian general

Nebojša Pavković Nebojša Pavković ( sr-cyr, Небојша Павковић; born 10 April 1946) is a Serbian retired army general who served as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Yugoslavia from February 2000 to June 2002. He also served as th ...

has called for Drašković to be tried for his role in the guard's formation.Pavković: Vuk to the Hague!
/ref> Having a pro-opposition political stance, the guard was never favoured by the FRY's government and Yugoslav security services.

Notable members

*Đorđe Božović "Giška", Serbian career criminal and the founding father of the Guard,

KIA Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...

during the Croatian war. *Branislav Matić "Beli" ("The White" or "Whitey"), founding father and chief financier, owner of large car junkyards in Belgrade. Gunned down in front of his house in 1991, presumably under the orders of the Yugoslav secret service who had been monitoring him since late 1980s. *Branislav Lainović "Dugi", career criminal and former basketball player. Took control over the Guard after Božović's death. He moved to

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

after the war where he became the kingpin of a local crime syndicate. He was gunned down in Belgrade in 2000 by the members of the

Zemun Clan The Zemun Clan (Serbian Cyrillic: Земунски клан) is one of the Belgrade clans of the Serbian mafia. It is named for the gang's base in Zemun, a municipality of Belgrade. The peak of the clan's power and influence occurred between 199 ...

over Novi Sad turf control. *Aleksandar Knežević "Knele", rising star of Belgrade underworld, and the

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The under ...

in the Voždovac gang. Assassinated in Hyatt hotel room in 1992, being only 21 at the time. Fought in the

Battle of Borovo Selo The Battle of Borovo Selo of 2 May 1991, known in Croatia as the Borovo Selo massacre ( hr, Pokolj u Borovom Selu) and in Serbia as the Borovo Selo incident ( sr, Инцидент у Боровом Селу), was one of the first armed clashe ...

. *Vaso Pavićević "Pava", Montenegrin Serb capo and former boxer of "Radnički" boxing club. Gunned down in an ambush on Paštrovska Gora in 1996. He commanded the troops in

Tenja Tenja ( sr-cyr, Тења, hu, Tenye, german: Tenne) is a city in eastern Slavonia, Croatia, located just southeast of Osijek. It is home for many popular movie stars. It is also place for rich and wealthy such as Andrej Plenković and Veliki Tat ...

in 1991. *Žarko Radulović "Đaro", Montenegrin Serb career criminal. Gunned down in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 1997.

References

{{Yugoslav wars 1991 establishments in Serbia Anti-communist organizations Military units and formations established in 1991 Military units and formations of the Croatian War of Independence Military wings of political parties Paramilitary organizations based in Serbia Paramilitary organizations in the Yugoslav Wars Yugoslav Serbia

Notable members

See also

References