You could previously read here that wealthy ‘war tourists’ may have paid tens of thousands of euros to shoot civilians for fun during the Bosnian civil war. Croatian journalist Domagoj Margetic investigated the case and goes even further. “Participants in the ‘human safari tour’ in Sarajevo challenged each other to see who could shoot the most beautiful woman,” he writes in his book ‘Plati i pucaj’ (‘Pay and shoot’, ed.).
Sven Van Malderen
Journalist at HLN
Source: The Times
Margetic bases his statement on documents he received from a Bosnian intelligence officer. This shows that a price list was used, according to ‘The Times’.
Anyone who wanted to shoot middle-aged men or women had to pay 80,000 German marks (about 40,000 euros at that time). Young ladies cost 95,000 marks, quite a bit more.
“Member of the royal family participated”
The absolute outliers turned out to be pregnant women: for them the Serbian ‘organisers’ asked 110,000 marks (approximately 55,000 euros at that time). Taking inflation into account, that amount would now easily exceed the 100,000 euro mark. “Ugljen wrote that the war tourists entered into a duel. They wanted to decide among themselves who could kill the most beautiful woman,” says Margetic.
The journalist also spoke to members of the Serbian militia who accompanied the gunmen. “Many claim that a member of a royal family from Europe took part. He arrived by helicopter, stayed in Vogosca (close to Sarajevo, ed.) and wanted to shoot children.”
Visual evidence
The key question remains: is there hard evidence to support the grim story of ‘human safaris’? In one case, certainly, it seems. Russian nationalist Eduard Limonov was filmed firing his machine gun at Sarajevo residents in 1992. Next to him at that moment: Radovan Karadzic, the Serbian war criminal who would later be found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Limonov eventually died in Moscow five years ago. He was 77 years old.
“More suitable for bears”
Then there was silence for a long time. Until 2007 to be precise: an American ex-marine testified before a tribunal that he had seen such ‘war tourists’ pass by several times. “Those foreigners were carrying a weapon more suited to hunting bears. They handled it like novices. They also clearly didn’t know their way around the city and therefore had to be guided,” John Jordan said. Also the Italian military intelligence service SISMI confirmed the existence of “gunmen who only appeared at the weekend”.
‘Sarajevo Safari’
In 2022, the controversial documentary ‘Sarajevo Safari’ saw the light of day. A former American intelligence officer also stated there that “foreigners shot at surrounded civilians of Sarajevo for a certain amount of money.”
“These were people with high positions, they were clearly protected,” he said. “Those rulers had everything their heart desired, but were looking for a new thrill. Why not shoot a child or an adult in Sarajevo, they must have thought.”
“At first I also thought that the human safari trip was a monkey story,” said documentary maker Miran Zupanic. “Until I heard all this. The fact that people pay to shoot other people is just crazy.”
Ezio Gavazzeni
The Slovenian film caught the attention of Ezio Gavazzeni, an Italian writer of books on organized crime. Gavazzeni himself started an investigation into the sniper safaris, focusing mainly on possible Italian involvement. The writer gathered enough evidence for the authorities to now officially investigate whether the allegations are substantiated.
Benjamina Karic, the ex-mayor of Sarajevo, also stepped out of the shadows. She started a lawsuit against unknown people. “Many people continue to fight tirelessly to have their grievances heard. I could no longer ignore this,” she testified to the Italian news agency Ansa.
The Siege of Sarajevo lasted from April 5, 1992 to February 29, 1996, the longest siege of a city in modern history. More than 11,500 people died. The Bosnian Civil War claimed a total of approximately 100,000 victims.
