Mihalj Kertes
Encyclopedia
Mihalj Kertes, nicknamed "Braca" or "Bracika", (Serbian Cyrillic: Михаљ Кертес) (born 29 August 1947 in Bačka Palanka
) was a close associate and man of trust of Slobodan Milošević
, Serbia
n leader during 1990s. As long-time director of Federal Customs Bureau of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Kertes provided logistic and financial support for various undercover operations of Serbian regime. During the 2000s, after the 5 October, Kertes was sentenced, tried or acted as a witness in several trials.
to father Mihalj, a tailor and mother Olga, a housewife. He completed the primary and middle school, as well as the High School of Management (major of social work
) in his hometown. He started working as a clerk for social work in municipal administration, became a member of League of Communists of Yugoslavia
in 1974, and his local career progressed to the level of secretary of municipal committee of the Communist League, in 1986.
During the party's transformation to Socialist Party of Serbia
, Kertes became a supporter of Milošević's policy.
"—a popular uprising against the "old regime" and in support of Milošević's politics of Serbian reunion—he initiated the protests in Bačka Palanka and led the protesters to Novi Sad
, capital of Vojvodina
province. The event, known as the "Yogurt revolution", led to resign of the provincial leadership and installation of one loyal to Milošević. His statement "How can you Serbs be afraid of Serbia when I, a Hungarian, am not afraid of Serbia?", made him particularly famous. Thanks to that role, he soon progressed to a member of Serbian presidency, and in 1990 was elected to the Assembly of Serbia as a MP
in Grocka
—Belgrade suburb he never lived in—under highly controversial circumstances.
In 1991, he shortly withdrew from the public eye and, under the auspice of the State Security, in the eve of the War in Croatia he traveled across Serb-populated areas in Croatia
and Herzegovina
, distributing the weapons to local Serbs. In July 1991, he made another historic statement in Nikšić
: "Here we will build a great Serbian state, with the border on the left shore of Neretva
and Dubrovnik
as the capital"
Subsequently, he was installed as head of State Security department of the Federal Ministry of Interior, and (almost secretly) as assistant to federal minister of interior Petar Gračanin
. The prime minister Milan Panić
sacked him after an incident at the London Conference
, when it was discovered that he induced Vladislav Jovanović to carry a secret listening device
, and that he was listening on the other end. He was linked with formation of Serbian paramilitary units in Croatia (especially in eastern Slavonia) and Bosnia and Herzegovina
in 1992 and 1993.
Kertes's reached the ultimate and the most lucrative peak of the career when he was appointed the head of Yugoslav Customs Office in 1993, the post that he will hold up to 2000. That position allowed him to impose whatever tax was necessary on the goods, and the customs duties functioned as a state budget in shadow. They were a financial source for a vast range of operations, from funding the paramilitary units in wars of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
, across money laundering in foreign off-shore banks, to natural filling of private pockets of people close to Milošević. During his tenure, he was a man of unlimited Milošević's trust, and his position in the customs was equal to a God. Corruption, nepotism, smuggling and money extortion took over in the service. UN sanctions imposed to the country meant that the entire lucrative turnover of goods, especially such as tobacco and oil, had to be effectively smuggled, the privilege that was given only to the selected ones. One of people who enormously benefited from the situation was Milošević's son Marko, who had an effective monopoly of dealing Philip Morris cigarettes in Yugoslavia. From his position, Kertes distributed an enormous number of gifts, chiefly vehicles and luxury goods, and the benefitors ranged from underdeveloped villages, through various state and local officials, to various special police, military and paramilitary units.
During the reign, he was a man of unlimited power in his hometown Bačka Palanka. Apart from his (self-confessed) love to fish
using the net and dynamite, he is also remembered for driving an armored limousine to his mother's house through the town. He had the power to sack whoever he didn't like, and provide benefits to the loyal ones. The town provided around 800 customs officials out of 2300 country's total during his mandate.
broke in the customs headquarters, finding Kertes and associates shredding
the documentation. Other items found in the suite included US$ 1.3 million in various currencies, 18 pound
of drugs, about 50 pieces of weapons, and 10 bulletproof luxury cars. After the brief detention, Kertes was permitted to leave the office, but subsequently faced various charges.
After 2 retrials, in February 2007, Kertes was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for providing the truck to executioners of opposition politicians, in the 1999 Ibarska magistrala assassination
.
In September 2007, he faced trial for abuse of office and embezzlement
. Among other issues, the prosecution charged the group, consisting of Slobodan Milošević, Jovan Zebić and Nikola Šainović
for transferring 120 million German mark
s to Cyprus
banks, where the trace is lost. Only Kertes faces trial, as Milošević and Zebić died, and Šainović is currently standing a trial in International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
in Hague.
He is also under investigation, and speculated to be a potential witness, in the so-called "tobacco mafia" case, related with tobacco smuggling in 1990s. Among the chief incriminated are Marko Milošević, Mira Marković and Stanko Subotić.
Backa Palanka
Bačka Palanka is a city and municipality located in Serbia, on left bank of the Danube, at 45.15° North, 19.24° East...
) was a close associate and man of trust of Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n leader during 1990s. As long-time director of Federal Customs Bureau of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Kertes provided logistic and financial support for various undercover operations of Serbian regime. During the 2000s, after the 5 October, Kertes was sentenced, tried or acted as a witness in several trials.
Biography
Kertes was born in Bačka PalankaBacka Palanka
Bačka Palanka is a city and municipality located in Serbia, on left bank of the Danube, at 45.15° North, 19.24° East...
to father Mihalj, a tailor and mother Olga, a housewife. He completed the primary and middle school, as well as the High School of Management (major of social work
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
) in his hometown. He started working as a clerk for social work in municipal administration, became a member of League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Savez komunista Jugoslavije/Савез комуниста Југославије, Slovene: Zveza komunistov Jugoslavije, Macedonian: Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na...
in 1974, and his local career progressed to the level of secretary of municipal committee of the Communist League, in 1986.
During the party's transformation to Socialist Party of Serbia
Socialist Party of Serbia
The Socialist Party of Serbia is officially a democratic socialist political party in Serbia. It is also widely recognized as a de facto Serbian nationalist party, though the party itself does not officially acknowledge this...
, Kertes became a supporter of Milošević's policy.
The rise
Kertes got sky-rocketed into high politics when, during the "anti-bureaucratic revolutionAnti-bureaucratic revolution
Anti-bureaucratic revolution as a term, refers to a series of mass protests against governments of Yugoslavian republics and autonomous provinces during 1988 and 1989, which led to resignations of leaderships of Kosovo, Vojvodina and Montenegro, and the capture of power by politicians close to...
"—a popular uprising against the "old regime" and in support of Milošević's politics of Serbian reunion—he initiated the protests in Bačka Palanka and led the protesters to Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
, capital of Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
province. The event, known as the "Yogurt revolution", led to resign of the provincial leadership and installation of one loyal to Milošević. His statement "How can you Serbs be afraid of Serbia when I, a Hungarian, am not afraid of Serbia?", made him particularly famous. Thanks to that role, he soon progressed to a member of Serbian presidency, and in 1990 was elected to the Assembly of Serbia as a MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in Grocka
Grocka
Grocka is a suburban neighborhood and one of 17 municipalities which constitute the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.- Location :...
—Belgrade suburb he never lived in—under highly controversial circumstances.
In 1991, he shortly withdrew from the public eye and, under the auspice of the State Security, in the eve of the War in Croatia he traveled across Serb-populated areas in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and Herzegovina
Herzegovina
Herzegovina is the southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While there is no official border distinguishing it from the Bosnian region, it is generally accepted that the borders of the region are Croatia to the west, Montenegro to the south, the canton boundaries of the Herzegovina-Neretva...
, distributing the weapons to local Serbs. In July 1991, he made another historic statement in Nikšić
Nikšić
Nikšić is a city in Montenegro . In 2003 the city had a total population about 75,000.Nikšić is located in Nikšić plain, at the foot of Mount Trebjesa. It is the center of the municipality , which is the largest in Montenegro by area...
: "Here we will build a great Serbian state, with the border on the left shore of Neretva
Neretva
Neretva is the largest river of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. It has been harnessed and controlled to a large extent by four HE power-plants with large dams and their storage lakes, but it is still recognized for its natural beauty, diversity of its landscape and visual...
and Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
as the capital"
Subsequently, he was installed as head of State Security department of the Federal Ministry of Interior, and (almost secretly) as assistant to federal minister of interior Petar Gračanin
Petar Gracanin
Petar Gračanin - Serbian military commander....
. The prime minister Milan Panić
Milan Panic
Milan Panić or Milan Panic is a Serbian American multimillionaire, a Newport Beach and Pasadena, California-based business tycoon. He served as Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1992-1993...
sacked him after an incident at the London Conference
London Conference
The London Conference could refer to several conferences:* London Conference of 1832* London Conference of 1838–39* London Conference of 1852* London Conference of 1866* London Conference of 1881 * London Conference of 1908...
, when it was discovered that he induced Vladislav Jovanović to carry a secret listening device
Covert listening device
A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and in police investigations.A bug does not have to be a device...
, and that he was listening on the other end. He was linked with formation of Serbian paramilitary units in Croatia (especially in eastern Slavonia) and Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
in 1992 and 1993.
Kertes's reached the ultimate and the most lucrative peak of the career when he was appointed the head of Yugoslav Customs Office in 1993, the post that he will hold up to 2000. That position allowed him to impose whatever tax was necessary on the goods, and the customs duties functioned as a state budget in shadow. They were a financial source for a vast range of operations, from funding the paramilitary units in wars of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, across money laundering in foreign off-shore banks, to natural filling of private pockets of people close to Milošević. During his tenure, he was a man of unlimited Milošević's trust, and his position in the customs was equal to a God. Corruption, nepotism, smuggling and money extortion took over in the service. UN sanctions imposed to the country meant that the entire lucrative turnover of goods, especially such as tobacco and oil, had to be effectively smuggled, the privilege that was given only to the selected ones. One of people who enormously benefited from the situation was Milošević's son Marko, who had an effective monopoly of dealing Philip Morris cigarettes in Yugoslavia. From his position, Kertes distributed an enormous number of gifts, chiefly vehicles and luxury goods, and the benefitors ranged from underdeveloped villages, through various state and local officials, to various special police, military and paramilitary units.
During the reign, he was a man of unlimited power in his hometown Bačka Palanka. Apart from his (self-confessed) love to fish
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
using the net and dynamite, he is also remembered for driving an armored limousine to his mother's house through the town. He had the power to sack whoever he didn't like, and provide benefits to the loyal ones. The town provided around 800 customs officials out of 2300 country's total during his mandate.
The fall
After the overthrow on Milošević on 5 October 2000, activists of Democratic Opposition of SerbiaDemocratic Opposition of Serbia
The Democratic Opposition of Serbia was a wide alliance of political parties in Serbia , formed as a coalition against the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia and its leader, Slobodan Milošević in 2000...
broke in the customs headquarters, finding Kertes and associates shredding
Paper shredder
A paper shredder is a mechanical device used to cut paper into chad, typically either strips or fine particles. Government organizations, businesses, and private individuals use shredders to destroy private, confidential, or otherwise sensitive documents...
the documentation. Other items found in the suite included US$ 1.3 million in various currencies, 18 pound
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
of drugs, about 50 pieces of weapons, and 10 bulletproof luxury cars. After the brief detention, Kertes was permitted to leave the office, but subsequently faced various charges.
After 2 retrials, in February 2007, Kertes was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for providing the truck to executioners of opposition politicians, in the 1999 Ibarska magistrala assassination
Ibarska magistrala assassination
The Ibar highway assassination attempt refers to the events of October 3, 1999 when active members of the Yugoslav state security's Special Operations Unit attempted to murder Vuk Drašković on the Ibar highway by slamming a truck full of sand into his two-car motorcade...
.
In September 2007, he faced trial for abuse of office and embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
. Among other issues, the prosecution charged the group, consisting of Slobodan Milošević, Jovan Zebić and Nikola Šainović
Nikola Šainovic
Nikola Šainović , born 7 December 1948 in Bor, Serbia, Yugoslavia) is a former Prime Minister of Serbia of Montenegrin descent...
for transferring 120 million German mark
German mark
The Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...
s to Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
banks, where the trace is lost. Only Kertes faces trial, as Milošević and Zebić died, and Šainović is currently standing a trial in International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
in Hague.
He is also under investigation, and speculated to be a potential witness, in the so-called "tobacco mafia" case, related with tobacco smuggling in 1990s. Among the chief incriminated are Marko Milošević, Mira Marković and Stanko Subotić.