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‘Sniper tourists’ from Britain spent tens of 1000’s of kilos to travel to Sarajevo to shoot at civilians in the course of the Bosnian-Serb army’s siege within the Nineties, it has been alleged.
Greater than 30 years after the military blockade of Sarajevo – the longest in modern history during which almost 14,000 were killed – prosecutors in Milan have opened an investigation into Italian tourists, accusing them of paying £70,000 to hitch a ‘human safari’.
These claims are based on witness statements collected by journalist and author Ezio Gavazzeni, who has now said that UK residents also took part within the ‘murder tourism’.
He revealed to El Mundo that the rich clients travelled from quite a few countries: the UK, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, the US and Canada.
These were individuals who paid to kill children, adults, and the elderly – for sport – hiding within the hills surrounding the Bosnian capital.
‘I used to be surprised when the rumours circulated about what was happening in Sarajevo without anyone investigating it further,’ Gavazzeni said.’
He added: ‘My hope is that a domino effect will occur. Amongst other things, because I actually have been the just one to initiate criminal proceedings in a Western country.
‘Why did no country ever open an investigation? Perhaps because they’re powerful, wealthy, and socially influential people.’
Gavazzeni shared his shock that ‘nobody has been interested’ within the matter within the last 30 years.
After the premiere of Miran Zupani’s documentary Sarajevo Safari in 2022, he said that no Western television network bought the rights to broadcast it.
Thus far, Italian prosecutors haven’t named any suspects, but they might achieve this soon.
Gavazzeni says he was in contact with individuals, including a member of the Bosnian secret service, who talked about Italian ‘sniper tourists’.
He previously add: ‘There have been no political or religious motivations. They were wealthy individuals who went there for fun and private satisfaction.
‘We’re talking about individuals who love guns who perhaps go to shooting ranges or on safari in Africa.’
The journalist claimed the Italian suspects would meet within the northern city of Trieste and travel to Belgrade, from where the Bosnian-Serb soldiers would accompany them to the hills of Sarajevo.
They paid a further fee to kill children with the sniper rifles, in keeping with the court filing.
‘There was a traffic of war tourists who went to there to shoot people,’ he said. ‘I call it an indifference towards evil.’
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 in Sarajevo resulted in 1995, leaving 13,952 people dead. 5,434 of those casualties were civilians.
By the tip of the Bosnian War, greater than 100,000 people had been killed and a few 2 million were forced to flee their homes.
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