A formal legal complaint has been filed against Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić by a Croatian investigative journalist, connecting him to the harrowing 'Sarajevo Safari' affair from the 1990s Bosnian War. The complaint, submitted to prosecutors in Milan, alleges that foreign nationals, including Italians, paid to act as snipers targeting civilians during the brutal siege of Sarajevo.
The Macabre 'Sniper Tourism' Trade
According to the allegations, groups of so-called 'sniper tourists' from Italy and other Western European countries paid substantial sums to soldiers from the army of Radovan Karadžić. These soldiers, under the command of the former Bosnian Serb leader later convicted of genocide, are said to have facilitated the tourists' transport to the hills surrounding Sarajevo. There, they allegedly shot at the city's civilian population for pleasure.
Ezio Gavazzeni, a Milan-based writer whose evidence helped initiate the investigation, described the participants as 'rich people who went there for fun and personal satisfaction'. He claimed there were 'many, many, many Italians' involved, alongside individuals from Germany, France, and England, all motivated by a love of guns rather than political or religious ideology.
A City Under Siege and in the Crosshairs
The siege of Sarajevo, which lasted from 1992 to 1996, was the longest of a capital city in modern history. More than 10,000 people were killed by shelling and sniper fire during the conflict, which began after Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia.
Snipers were a particularly terrifying aspect of daily life, indiscriminately targeting people on the streets, including children. One iconic photograph from 11 April 1993 shows a Bosnian man cradling his child as they and others run past one of the most notorious sniper positions.
The investigation by Milan prosecutors, launched last week, focuses on identifying the Italians involved, with charges being considered for voluntary murder aggravated by cruelty and abject motives.
Connecting Vučić to the Allegations
The complaint against President Vučić was filed by journalist Domagoj Margetić. He presented evidence on social media suggesting that Vučić, then a young volunteer, was present at a military post in Sarajevo from which witnesses say foreign 'tourists' and Serbian ultranationalist units fired upon civilians.
Vučić has yet to comment on these specific allegations. However, in a 2021 interview, he explicitly denied ever firing on the besieged city, dismissing previous rumours as political manipulation rooted in the nationalist rhetoric of his youth.
The case continues to develop as international prosecutors piece together the events of one of the most brutal chapters in modern European history.
