Ranko Rubežić

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

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.

Early life Rubežić was born in Peć, Kosovo in 1951 to a poor family of Montenegrin origin, although his formative years took place in the Belgrade neighbourhood of Lekino Brdo where his family moved shortly after his birth. His father was a colonel in Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). Street fighting, petty theft, burglary break-ins, and stays in juvenile detention were a regular part of Rubežić's youth.

Criminal career In his early twenties, Rubežić emigrated to western Europe, spending time in West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and Italy where he made a living through racketeering.

By the late 1970s, he returned to SFR Yugoslavia, building a reputation in Belgrade through thefts and racketeering, especially the city's downtown area. In doing so, he developed several new criminal techniques that had not been applied in Belgrade, such as racketeering various Belgrade state-owned hotels' front desk concierges who were known to pocket bribes for use of their rooms for prostitution. The police were alerted to his activity in 1978 after the management of Hotel Moskva's and Hotel Srbija's notified them of Rubežić harassment and maltreatment of their staff. The particular complaint resulted in criminal prosecution; he received a sentence of six months. Rubežić's half a year in jail—which he served in 1980 mostly in the 's isolation ward—was marked by his asocial behaviour and fellow prisoners' reluctance to interact with him due to the street reputation that preceded him.

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.

Vendetta After Rubežić's death, his godbrother Branislav Šaranović, the Montenegrin Don, attempted 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 Boris Petkov and Bojan Petrović, whom he held as being most responsible. He made an attempt at Petkov's life after "Giška" Božović's funeral in 1991.