Mihalj Kertes

Mihalj Kertes is a useful example of why the archive’s legal-status bar needs more detail than a simple “convicted” label. In the Ibar Highway case, he was not convicted as one of the men who carried out the attempted assassination. The final judgment concerned assistance to perpetrators after the crime, and the sentence was eighteen months.

Federal customs chief

Kertes headed the Federal Customs Administration during the Milošević era, giving him a position of substantial state authority. His appearance in the Ibar Highway prosecution widened the case beyond the JSO members who physically carried out the operation.

Ibar Highway conviction

The Supreme Court judgment sentenced Kertes to one year and six months for assisting perpetrators after the offense. That 18-month term is the sentence tied specifically to this event and is the figure shown in the profile status bar.

Sentence served

RTS reported in 2011 that Kertes had completed the eighteen-month sentence. Other proceedings involving Kertes belong to separate legal histories and should not be casually merged into the Ibar Highway sentence.

Graph role

The page should link to the Ibar Highway event and the principal convicted figures, while making the narrower nature of Kertes’s conviction visible. This prevents the graph from flattening planners, direct participants and post-crime assistance into one category.