Indictment 'Drafted' Against Serbian Star Ceca

According to B92, the draft indictment charges Svetlana Raznatovic, known as Ceca, with misappropriating funds from the sale of footballers from the Serbian club Obilic, allegedly with the help of her sister Lidija Velickovic-Ocokoljic.

Ceca was president of Obilic, the club purchased by her late husband and notorious criminal Arkan, from 1998-2003. During that period, she allegedly sold 15 football players to foreign clubs and pocketed part of the earnings from the sales.

The investigation into the case has been ongoing since 2003, but the Serbian prosecutor's office has not yet filed charges, explaining in response to B92 reports of the draft indictment that the probe was continuing but was very complex and would take time to be completed.

The probe was launched after Ceca was arrested during a massive police operation, codenamed Sablja, which was carried out immediately after Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was murdered on March 12, 2003.

Detained on suspicion of illegal weapons possession and the improper transfer of football players, she spent 121 days in prison and was then released.

She was widely seen in public as a victim of the operation, in which police arrested more than 1,000 people.

She has since enjoyed the support of some local officials in the country, and sang for then Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik at a celebration of the Serbian Orthodox new year in January 2007. She also sang at a pre-election rally for Dodik in October this year, which was attended by Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic.