In Serbia, the media currently knows almost only one topic: the arrest of the former State Secretary Dijana Hrkalovic (34). She was arrested on Friday for hiding evidence of mafia murder and for forwarding classified information to a criminal organization.
Mafia boss Veljko Belivuk (35) has been linked to the murder in 2017. He is said to have his slain enemies put through the meat grinder and then to eat them as cevapcici or to send the meat to his opponents as a warning.
How does Hrkalovic fit into this cruel world? Because at first the Serbian had a picture-book career. There was nothing to suggest that just a few years later she would make headlines as the “Mafia Bride”.
Up on the express train
The Serb was born in Belgrade in 1987. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s degree in psychology at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Belgrade. In 2020 she even got a doctorate in psychology.
Hrkalovic is a member of the ruling Serbian Progress Party and climbed the career ladder of State Security at a dizzying pace. In 2014, at the age of only 27, she was promoted by the state secret service to deputy to the then Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic (44). In the following year she became secretary of the Criminal Police (UKP) and in 2017, finally, State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior.
Submerged and changed names
The resignation followed two years later. Why is not known. But then the Serbian went into hiding in Israel for several weeks and temporarily gave herself a new name.
She called herself “Nika Rina” after the Greek goddess of victory Nike and after the notorious Sicilian mafia boss Toto Riina († 87), who is said to have murdered 150 people, including children. Like the Serbian newspaper «Blic» reports, the name change led to Hrkalovic being referred to as the “Mafia goddess” in Serbia today.
Back in Serbia, she changed her apartment. And not only that: she also changed her appearance – and how. Gone with the inconspicuous good government employee. From now on she dressed flashily and published photos in sexy poses on her Instagram channel.
She denies the allegations
Dijana Hrkalovic was arrested on Friday afternoon on suspicion of having removed evidence linking Veljko Belivuk, alias Velja Nevolja, to the murder of Vlastimir Milosevic († 34). The well-known karate fighter was shot with six bullets on tram rails in Belgrade on January 30, 2017.
As State Secretary, Hrkalovic had access to important documents and was in close contact with the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (51). And it is precisely this proximity that she is said to have exploited to pass on sensitive information to the mafia.
At the hearing before the public prosecutor’s office, Hrkalovic denied everything that she was charged with. It can be held for up to 30 days. (gf)