Serbian pop star fined €1.5m for embezzling €2.3m

Ceca is one of Serbia's biggest celebrities

A Serbian pop star, who pleaded guilty to embezzling €2.3million was fined €1.5million on 9th May, in a case which critics say shows that some are more equal than others before the law in Serbia.

Svetlana Ražnatovic, better known by her stage name Ceca, was indicted in March for embezzling funds from the transfer of plays from the Serbian football club Obilic.

Ceca gaind ownership of the club in 2000 after the death of her husband Željko Ražnatovic (aka Arkan), described by The Guardian as a gangster and warlord.

Ceca gained fame in the 1990s with her patriotic folk tunes set to a techno beat. She married Arkan, who is suspected of having committed war crimes during the 1991-1995 war that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia, and the two became one of the country's most prominent couple.

Arkan owned the first division team Obilic, which at one point was considered a European contender, but has now fallen out of the first division. Ceca took over the team after Arkan was gunned down by rival gang members in the lobby of an upscale Belgrade hotel.

Ceca and her sister Lidija Velickovic Ocokoljic pleaded guilty to selling players to foreign clubs, without paying taxes on the profits or even declaring the deals through the club.

Critics are mystified by the outcome, which leaves Ceca with a profit of €800,000 of embezzled money. Her crime had a maximum jail sentence of 12 years, but she was simply given eight months house arrest.

Belgrade-based human rights activist Marko Karadzic was quoted by Reuters as saying the plea bargain was "an insult to common sense and justice".

Similarly, The Guardian quoted Belgrade lawyer Slobodan Beljanski as saying "A bad message has been sent to the public, that we are all not equal before the law."

The judge Sladiana Markovic said the plea bargain was aimed at preventing a long trial and that she took into consideration Ceca's good character.

"Raznatovic is a single mom ... Her sister is a family woman, the Obilic club did not file charges and the two did not commit any crimes since 2002, a testimony to their good character," Markovic said.

Ceca will also be banned for one year from holding concerts.

Sources: The Guardian, Reuters, Andkronos News

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