Ranko Rubežić

Ranko Rubežić (born 1951 in Peć, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia — died 19 February 1985 in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) was a Serbian gangster and criminal.

A prominent crime figure in Belgrade, known locally as the "Serbian Dutch Schultz", his February 1985 murder caused a media frenzy in communist Yugoslavia. It also marked the first case of gangland murder in Belgrade and Yugoslavia in the so-called 'sačekuša' style — something that would become a regular occurrence in the city and country throughout the 1990s and early part of the 2000s.

Vendetta

After his death, his godbrother Branislav Šaranović, the Montenegrin Don and the king of Belgrade's underworld gambling, went on a spree to avenge him. He was particularly enraged by the fact that Rubežić was killed after being a guest at his own house. Šaranović particularly targeted Petkov and Petrović, whom he held as being most responsible. He made an attempt at Petkov's life after "Giška" Božović's funeral in 1991.

Early life

Rubežić was born in Peć in 1951 in a poor family of Montenegrin origin though his formative years took place in the Belgrade neighbourhood of Lekino Brdo where the family moved shortly after his birth. His father was a colonel in YPA. Street fighting, petty theft, burglary break-ins, and stays in juvenile detention were a regular part of Rubežić's early youth.

Criminal career

In his early twenties, Rubežić emigrated to western Europe, spending time and doing racketeering scores in West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and Italy.

By the late 1970s he came back to SFR Yugoslavia and via theft and racketeering began throwing his criminal weight around Belgrade, especially the city's downtown area that many considered to be his turf. In doing so, he initiated several criminal techniques prior unseen in the city's underworld such as racketeering concierges at state-owned city hotels around Belgrade who pocketed bribes for turning a blind eye to the practice of hotel rooms occasionally being used for prostitution by the hour. The police got alerted to his activity in 1978 after Hotel Moskva's and Hotel Srbija's respective managements notified them of Rubežić maltreating their staff. The particular complaint resulted in criminal prosecution as he got sentenced to six months, a largely symbolic punishments due to Yugoslav criminal code still not treating this activity as a serious crime. His half a year in jail, which he served during 1980 in the isolation ward of Belgrade's Central Prison, was marked by his silent behaviour and fellow prisoners' reluctance to interact with him due to the street reputation that preceded him.

With his short stature and slim build, Rubežić's appearance differed significantly from his Belgrade underworld contemporaries such as Đorđe "Giška" Božović, Ljuba Zemunac, Željko "Arkan" Ražnatović, Rade "Ćenta" Ćaldović, etc. all of whom were physical large. Lacking in size, Rubežić made up for it in ruthlessness and sheer determination, becoming one of the first Belgrade criminals to carry a gun at all times as well as a small grenade. His other weapon of choice was an Israeli-made sawed-off shotgun, known locally as 'kratež'. Silent and not very social, he struck fear into his opponents and acquaintances alike, many of whom preferred to stay away due to his moodiness and general behavioural unpredictability, including frequent violent outbursts.

Unlike many of his underworld colleagues and rivals, Rubežić was never contracted by the Yugoslav State Security Service (UDBA). This was mostly due to his lifestyle and manner of running his criminal activities towards the end of his life — following the 1984 altercation with his one-time friend turned foe Đorđe "Giška" Božović, Rubežić went into deep hiding, leading a paranoid and cautious existence, only surfacing to commit an odd crime.

Rubežić was murdered on 19 February 1985 in front of the Belgrade Eastern Gates in the Konjarnik neighbourhood by his associates Dragan "Dadilja" Popović and Miroslav "Vuja" Vujisić as well as Boris Petkov and Bojan Petrović. Popović and Vujisić got sentenced to 15 years in prison for the crime while Petkov and Petrović got 5 years each in later separate court trials.

Rubežić's murder is seen by many as a significant turning point in Belgrade underworld. Prior to its occurrence, gangster murders were rare in the city — the name of the game among Serbian criminals had mostly been humiliating and incapacitating a rival, not murdering him, however in the coming years that rapidly changed.