More than three decades after the Siege of Sarajevo, Italian prosecutors have launched an investigation into a shocking war crime allegation that wealthy Italian tourists paid large sums of money to participate in so-called “human safaris,” where they allegedly shot at civilians trapped in the besieged Bosnian capital.
According to court documents from Milan, the suspects, some with known connections to far-right circles, are accused of paying around £70,000 each to the Bosnian Serb army for weekend “hunting trips” during the 1990s conflict. Prosecutors say the men travelled from Italy to Sarajevo, where they took up sniper positions on rooftops overlooking the city and opened fire on innocent residents below.
Disturbingly, investigators allege the participants could pay an additional fee if they wanted to target children.
At the height of the siege, the gunfire and shelling were so relentless that two of the city’s main roads, Ulica Zmaja od Bosne and Meša Selimović Boulevard, became known as “Sniper Alley.” Residents risked their lives daily, sprinting across open streets to find food or water as marksmen shot from surrounding hills.
Milan-based journalist Ezio Gavazzeni described the accused as “wealthy men, businessmen with reputations, who during the siege paid to kill unarmed civilians.” He added, “They left Trieste for a manhunt and then returned to their respectable daily lives.”
Authorities in Bosnia and Italy believe more than 100 individuals may have taken part in these sniper “tours.” Some could soon be called to testify as the investigation widens. Bosnian intelligence sources are also reported to have gathered evidence placing Italian nationals in sniper positions around Sarajevo during the war.
The Bosnian consul in Milan, Dag Dumrukcic, said his government was committed to uncovering the truth. “We are eager to settle accounts with the past. I am aware of information that I will contribute to the investigation,” he stated.
During the four-year siege, which lasted from 1992 to 1996, Sarajevo’s water, gas, and electricity supplies were cut off, forcing residents to live in desperate conditions under constant bombardment. The conflict became one of the darkest chapters of the Bosnian War.
Former Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Stanislav Galic were later convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their roles in orchestrating the siege. Both men received life sentences, Karadzic is serving his term in the United Kingdom, while Galic is imprisoned in Germany.
By the time the siege ended in 1995, an estimated 13,952 people had been killed, including 5,434 civilians. The Milan inquiry, prosecutors say, aims to bring long-delayed justice to victims of one of Europe’s most haunting modern atrocities.
