Rich tourists allegedly paid $91,000 to shoot innocent people during the 1990s siege of Sarajevo, with additional fees charged for killing children.
Between 1992 and 1996, Sarajevo endured the longest siege of any capital city in modern history, with more than 10,000 people horrifically murdered by sniper fire and shelling.
The rich travelers allegedly paid Bosnian Serb militias between $91K and $115K for the opportunity to be in the war-torn city and participate in the killings.
According to the Telegraph, they had ties to far-right circles and were said to have traveled to the Bosnian capital from various countries, including Italy, Russia, and the U.S.
Tourists allegedly paid $91K to shoot innocent people in "human safari" hunting trips. Credit: Patrick Robert - Corbis / Getty
The Sniper Tourism
The allegations first came to light through the 2022 documentary, Sarajevo Safari, by Slovenian filmmaker Miran Zupanic.
She interviewed survivors and gathered testimonies about the presence of foreign nationals who participated in these "human safaris" during the Bosnian War.
Prosecutors in Milan are now investigating the claims, following a 17-page legal complaint submitted by Italian journalist Ezio Gavazzeni, with support from Benjamina Karic, the former mayor of Sarajevo, and Guido Salvini, a former magistrate.
Gavazzeni has claimed that up to 100 tourists may have partaken in the slayings, using a "price list" for targeted victims, the Daily Mail reported.
In addition to this, it's reported that Bosnian Serb forces, under the command of Radovan Karadžić - a disgraced politician who was later convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity - planned these hunting trips.
Reports state that the tourists were transported to the hills surrounding Sarajevo, where they committed their horrific crimes in areas like "Sniper Alley," a nickname for the city’s streets plagued by deadly sniper fire.
"Children cost more, then men, preferably in uniform and armed, women, and finally old people, who could be killed for free," Gavazzeni added.
Tourists paid extra to kill children. Credit: Derek Hudson / Getty
The Involvement of Foreign Nationals and Intelligence Agencies
The shooting spree was said to be motivated by a mix of bloodthirstiness and support for the Serbian cause, with many of the tourists reportedly sympathizing with the Serb militias' actions during the war.
The allegations were supported by testimonies from different sources, such as a former Bosnian intelligence officer, who recalled how Italian intelligence had information about the foreign nationals involved as early as 1993.
A former US Marine named John Jordan also testified to the United Nations-led ad hoc international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2007 recounted how he saw one foreigner “show up with a weapon that seems more suited to wild boar hunting in the Black Forest than to urban combat in the Balkans," and added that the individual handled the weapon like “a novice”.
Wealthy tourists are accused of travelling to Sarajevo for 'sniper tourism' during its four-year siege in the 1990s. Credit: Patrick Robert - Corbis / Getty
Milan prosecutors are working with a special unit of the Carabinieri police, which specializes in terrorism and organized crime, to gather evidence and identify the individuals responsible for the killings.
The investigation is also supported by the Bosnian government, according to Dag Dumrukcic, the Bosnian consul in Milan.
"We are eager to uncover the truth about such a cruel matter and settle accounts with the past. I am aware of some information that I will contribute to the investigation," he said.