Prosecutors in Croatia have opened an investigation taking a look at two tourists who’re accused of participating in a ‘human safari’ which killed innocent Bosnians.
Throughout the Siege of Sarajevo within the Nineteen Nineties, European tourists were accused of paying to shoot at civilians within the war-torn city.
The country’s justice ministry said: ‘An investigation was opened on April 25 against an Austrian citizen and one other as-yet-unidentified individual in reference to possible participation in so-called “sniper tours” in Sarajevo in the course of the Bosnian War.’
In November, officials in Milan opened an investigation by which two Italian tourists were questioned over their involvement within the sickening ‘safari’.
Alma Zadic, a Bosnian-born member of the Austrian Green Party and the previous justice minister, said of the brand new allegations: ‘The concept that people could have paid money to deliberately shoot at civilians — even children — is sort of unimaginable in its cruelty.
‘Such acts represent a level of contempt for humanity that leaves one speechless. The victims and their relatives have a right to truth, justice and clarification.’
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The investigation comes after a book published last month by Croatian journalist Domagoj Margetic claimed an Austrian was involved within the shootings, possibly an aristocrat.
The book, Pay And Shoot, comprises an interview with ‘Jovan’, a former Bosnian Serb army major.
The book’s creator told The Times: ‘He said an Austrian who got here in late 1992 and in 1993 was nicknamed “Grof” by the Serbs, which suggests “Count” in Serbo-Croatian.
‘I even have also been told that Serbian soldiers at Sarajevo checkpoints remember hunters showing Austrian passports.’
Allegations in regards to the snipers emerged following the discharge of the 2022 documentary Sarajevo Safari by Miran Zupanic.
Italian, Croatian, British, French, Spanish, Russian and German nationals have been accused of attending the ‘tours’, allegedly organised by Serbs and Croats.
The shooting in town was so bad that two important streets, Ulica Zmaja od Bosne and Meša Selimović Boulevard, were dubbed ‘sniper alley’.
Throughout the siege, Sarajevo’s electric, gas and water supplies were cut off – leaving those throughout the city with no access to vital infrastructure.
Former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and the commander of the Bosnian Serb Army’s Sarajevo-Romanija Corps, Stanislav Galic, were each found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity on the Hague over the attack.
Each were eventually handed sentences of life imprisonment. Karadzic is serving his sentence within the UK, while Galic was taken to Germany.
The siege resulted in 1995, leaving 13,952 people dead. 5,434 of those casualties were civilians.
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