Mihalj Kertes

Mihalj Kertes, nicknamed "Braca" or "Bracika", (Serbian Cyrillic: Михаљ Кертес, Hungarian: Kertész Mihály, born 29 August 1947 in Bačka Palanka^[1]) was a close associate and man of trust of Slobodan Milošević, Serbian leader during the 1990s. As long-time director of Federal Customs Bureau of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Kertes provided logistic and financial support for various undercover government operations. 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 Palanka 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.^{[2] [3] [4]} During the party's transformation to Socialist Party of Serbia, Kertes became a supporter of Milošević's policy.

The rise

Kertes got skyrocketed into high politics when, during the "anti-bureaucratic revolution"—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.^[5] 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.^[3]

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"^[6]

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.^[3] 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.^[6] He was linked with formation of Serbian paramilitary units in Croatia (especially in eastern Slavonia) and Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 and 1993.^[5]

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.^[5] During his tenure, he was a man of unlimited Milošević's trust, and his position in the customs was equal to a God.^[6] 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.^[5] 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.^[5]

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.^[5]

The fall

After the overthrow on Milošević on 5 October 2000, activists of Democratic Opposition of Serbia 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.^[5]

After two 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.^[7]

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 marks 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.^[8] In November 2012, the Appelate Court reached the final verdict of six years and six months in prison to Kertes for illegal transfer of money to Cyprus and embezzlement of state budget for 1.5 million dinars. The sentence was joined with the previous one of 1.5 years for his participation in the Ibarska magistrala assassination. He was absolved of charges of "joint criminal venture" with Milošević, Zebić and Šainović.^[9] However, in March 2013, the Supreme Court of Cassation reversed the verdict and ordered a reconsideration by the Appelate Court.^[10] In August 2014, he was released of all charges for embezzlement due to absolute obsolescence.^[11]

Kertes also faces several trials for tobacco smuggling during 1990s and "abuse of official role" in relation with it. In December 2015, Appelate Court reached the final verdict of 2.5 years in prison in one such case.^[12]

Personal

Mihalj Kertes declares as an ethnic Hungarian.^[3] He is married to Mira, and has two daughters, Sanja and Dragana.

References