Italian prosecutors have launched a disturbing investigation into claims that wealthy foreigners paid up to £70,000 to act as “weekend snipers” during the 1992–1996 Siege of Sarajevo, taking part in what witnesses have described as a grotesque “human safari”.
The allegations centre on the idea that foreign tourists, reportedly including Italians and Americans, paid Bosnian Serb forces for access to sniper positions overlooking the besieged city. From these hills, they allegedly fired on unarmed civilians, men, women and even children, trapped inside Sarajevo during one of the longest sieges in modern history.
A siege of starvation, terror and sniper fire
For nearly four years, Bosnian Serb troops encircled the city, trapping around 300,000 people with little food, water or medical supplies. Around 11,000 civilians were killed, among them more than 1,600 children, with tens of thousands more wounded. Snipers became a daily terror, targeting anyone moving through the streets, especially in the notorious “Sniper Alley”.
Now, fresh claims suggest some of those pulling the trigger may not have been soldiers at all, but wealthy thrill-seekers.
The new investigation
The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Milan has opened a formal inquiry after a 17-page complaint by Italian journalist Ezio Gavazzeni, who alleges that “very wealthy people” were paying large sums to take part in killings. Some reports even suggest different prices were charged depending on whether the target was a man, woman or child.
Prosecutors believe Italian citizens were among those who participated, though they are not the only nationality implicated. A US congresswoman has confirmed a separate American investigation after reports that some tourists from the United States were also involved.
Gavazzeni told La Repubblica he believes “at least a hundred” foreign visitors may have taken part.
Witnesses and earlier accounts
These allegations resurfaced in 2014 with the publication of The B**tards of Sarajevo by Italian journalist Luca Leone, and gained further attention in the 2022 documentary Sarajevo Safari, directed by Miran Zupanič.
The film features testimony from retired Bosnian intelligence officer Edin Subašić, who claims foreign tourists were flown from Belgrade to sniper positions in the hills around Sarajevo.
A former US Marine, John Jordan, also told the International Criminal Tribunal that “tourist shooters” travelled to Sarajevo “to take pot shots at civilians for their own gratification”. He recalled one man arriving with a hunting rifle “more suited to wild boar than urban combat”, handling it “like a novice”, a chilling suggestion that these alleged visitors had little military skill.
Scepticism and calls for evidence
Despite the shocking nature of the claims, some experts urge caution.
Tim Judah, a respected British journalist and Balkans analyst, told The Telegraph he never heard such stories while reporting extensively from Pale, the Bosnian Serb headquarters, during the war.
“I’m not saying it didn’t happen,” he said. “It’s possible some people were willing to pay to do this. But I don’t think the numbers would have been very large.”
With decades passed and many witnesses scattered or gone, establishing the full truth will be difficult. Yet prosecutors say the allegations are serious enough to warrant fresh investigation and, if proven, could expose one of the most depraved episodes of the entire war.
