In a shocking revelation, it has been alleged that affluent gun enthusiasts from abroad were allowed to participate in a ‘human safari’ by shooting people in Sarajevo during the 1990s.
Ezio Gavazzeni, an Italian journalist and novelist, claims to have found evidence that wealthy ‘sniper tourists’ paid up to $90,000 to randomly shoot people during the four-year siege of Sarajevo at the height of the Bosnian war.
As reported by the BBC, Gavazzeni, who writes on topics such as terrorism and the mafia, outlined a ‘manhunt’ carried out by ‘very wealthy people’ who were allegedly given permission to target ‘defenseless civilians’ from Serbian positions in the hills surrounding the city. This revelation has sparked a significant investigation in Milan.
It is suggested that the tourists paid varying amounts to target different demographics, with children reportedly having a higher price tag.
During the brutal siege, which occurred between 1992 and 1995, over 11,000 people were killed as they faced constant shelling and sniper fire from Serbian forces surrounding Sarajevo.
“There were Germans, French, English … people from all Western countries who paid large sums of money to be taken there to shoot civilians,” Gavazzeni claimed, according to a complaint in Milan.
“There were no political or religious motivations. They were rich people who went there for fun and personal satisfaction.
“We are talking about people who love guns who perhaps go to shooting ranges or on safari in Africa,” he added.
Gavazzeni is not the only one to make these claims, as similar accusations of overseas ‘human hunters’ have surfaced occasionally. However, the evidence provided by Gavazzeni, which reportedly includes testimony from a Bosnian military intelligence officer, is being scrutinized by Italian counter-terrorism prosecutor Alessandro Gobbis.
The officer reportedly disclosed that his Bosnian colleagues discovered these alleged ‘safaris’ in 1993 and relayed the information to Italy’s Sismi military intelligence the following year.
The military allegedly discovered that such tourists were flying from Trieste in northern Italy to access the hills above Sarajevo.
“We’ve put a stop to it and there won’t be any more safaris,” the officer reportedly said, according to Ansa news agency, leading to the cessation of these trips.
Gavazzeni was driven to seek the truth after reading initial reports of these heinous crimes in Italian newspapers three decades ago but found limited evidence.
His investigation gained momentum after he watched a 2022 documentary called *Sarajevo Safari*, directed by Slovenian filmmaker Miran Zupanic. The film features testimony from a former Serb soldier who alleged that visitors from the US, Russia, and Italy shot at civilians from the hills overlooking Sarajevo.
Gavazzeni submitted a 17-page report detailing his findings to prosecutors in February of this year.
In an interview with Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper, Gavazzeni claims that ‘many’ individuals were involved, estimating ‘at least a hundred,’ with Italians reportedly spending around €100,000.
Italian prosecutors, led by Gobbis, are now investigating to determine if any Italians participated in this alleged sniper tourism and, if so, intend to charge them with murder.
A spokesperson from the Bosnian Consulate in Milan, speaking on behalf of the Bosnian government, told the New York Post, “We are impatient to discover the truth about such a cruel matter in order to close a chapter of history. I am in possession of certain information I will be sharing with the investigators.”