Wealthy Europeans and Americans are accused of paying massive sums to the Bosnian Serb army, then climbing Sarajevo’s hills to shoot civilians.
Italian prosecutors have now opened a formal investigation into the shocking allegations.
The longest siege ever
The Yugoslav Wars were terrible and a lot of innocent civilians got hurt or killed. Towns and communities were completely destroyed, and families were torn apart. For example, over 10,000 people lost their lives to snipers and shelling in Sarajevo between 1992 and 1996 during the Balkan Wars.
The siege of Sarajevo, which lasted from 1992 to 1996, was the longest of any capital city in modern history, leaving more than 11,000 people dead from sniper fire, shelling, and other wartime atrocities.
Yet according to recent reports, a group of foreign nationals turned the tragedy into a deadly thrill ride, what has been chillingly dubbed a “human safari.”
Italian journalist and novelist Ezio Gavazzeni filed a 17-page complaint with Milan prosecutors, alleging that “very wealthy people” traveled to Sarajevo for the chance to kill defenseless civilians for sport.
“There were Germans, French, English … people from all Western countries who paid large sums of money to be taken there to shoot civilians,” Gavazzeni told The Guardian.
“There were no political or religious motives. They were rich people who went there for fun and personal satisfaction”.
According to The Telegraph, some of the so-called “sniper tourists” are said to have come from the U.S.
Different prices, according to claims
According to the claims, different prices were charged depending on the victim: children reportedly cost the most, followed by men in uniform, then women, while elderly civilians could allegedly be shot for free.
The tourists were said to have traveled from Italy, Russia, and even the U.S., and were allegedly transported to hillside positions by Bosnian Serb forces under the command of Radovan Karadžić, the leader later convicted of genocide.
Witnesses described “Sniper Alley,” one of the city’s deadliest streets, where civilians were regularly targeted.
A former Bosnian intelligence officer corroborated that Italian intelligence knew of these “safaris” as early as 1993. Meanwhile, U.S. Marine John Jordan testified to the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2007, recalling seeing a foreigner handle a heavy weapon “like a novice,” describing it as more suited for wild boar hunting than urban combat.
“Rich people with a love for weapons”
Gavazzeni’s investigation suggests that at least 100 tourists participated, paying up to €100,000 — over $91,000 today — for the opportunity to take part in the killings.
“They were rich people with a love for weapons, maybe like people who go on African safaris, but here, the target was human,” he said.
These allegations have been corroborated in part by the 2022 documentary Sarajevo Safari, which interviewed survivors and collected firsthand testimonies about foreigners engaging in what they describe as “sniper tourism” during the war.
Italian prosecutors in Milan are now working with a special unit of the Carabinieri police, focused on terrorism and organized crime, to identify suspects and gather evidence. Some Italian citizens have already been named and are expected to be questioned in the coming weeks.
The Bosnian Consulate in Milan said the government is ready to fully cooperate with the investigation.
Nicola Brigida, a lawyer who assisted Gavazzeni with building his case, told The Guardian: “The evidence accumulated after a long investigation [by Gavazzeni] is well substantiated and could lead to serious investigation to identify the culprits. There is also the report from the former Sarajevo mayor.”
Member of British forces respond
Yet the claims are not without controversy. Members of the British forces stationed in and around Sarajevo at the time told the BBC that they never encountered such “tourist snipers,” describing the stories as possibly “urban myths.”
One soldier noted that the logistics of bringing in paid civilians to shoot in a war zone would have been extremely difficult, given the city’s multiple checkpoints and ongoing conflict.
Still, the idea that wealthy thrill-seekers could exploit a city under siege to kill innocent people has sparked outrage and disbelief around the world.
“We are eager to uncover the truth about such a cruel matter and settle accounts with the past,” said Bosnian Consul in Milan Dag Dumrukcic.
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