A Croatian investigative journalist has filed a lawsuit against Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Milan over his alleged involvement in the “Sarajevo Safari” case. According to The Guardian, the case concerns claims that foreign snipers, including Italians, traveled to Sarajevo during the city’s four-year siege in the 1990s to kill civilians for sport.
Last week, Milan prosecutors opened an investigation to identify Italians allegedly involved in crimes including premeditated murder aggravated by cruelty and base motives. Investigators say groups of so-called “sniper tourists” reportedly paid large sums to soldiers under Radovan Karadžić—the former Bosnian Serb leader convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity in 2016—to be transported to hills around Sarajevo and shoot civilians.
Between 1992 and 1996, more than 10,000 people were killed in Sarajevo by shelling and sniper fire, during what is considered the longest siege in modern history. Snipers were particularly feared, indiscriminately targeting civilians, including children.
The investigation was prompted by a lawsuit filed by Milan-based writer Ezio Gavaceni, who collected evidence over decades, and a report submitted by former Sarajevo mayor Benjamina Karić. Gavaceni noted that he first read reports of “tourist snipers” in Italian press in the 1990s, but it was the 2022 documentary Sarajevo Safari by Slovenian director Miran Zupanič that motivated him to investigate further.
Investigative journalist Domagoj Margetić formally filed the lawsuit against Vučić on Wednesday. In recent days, Margetić shared evidence on social media suggesting that Vučić, then a young volunteer, was allegedly present at a military position in Sarajevo from which foreign nationals and Serbian ultra-nationalist units reportedly shot civilians in a so-called “tourist safari.”
Nikola Brigida, a lawyer assisting Gavaceni, stated, “The evidence gathered after [Gavaceni’s] long investigation is well-supported and could lead to a serious inquiry to identify the culprits. There is also a report from the former mayor of Sarajevo.” Gavaceni claimed that numerous Italians, along with Germans, French, and English nationals, allegedly participated, paying to shoot civilians for personal pleasure. He emphasized that the attacks had no political or religious motive.
According to Gavaceni, the Italian suspects reportedly traveled from Trieste to Belgrade, from where Bosnian Serb soldiers would escort them to Sarajevo. He described this as a “tourist” form of violence and an example of “indifference to evil.”
Vučić has not publicly commented on the accusations. Rumors regarding his presence in Sarajevo during the siege have circulated for years. In a 2021 interview with a Bosnian TV channel, he denied ever firing on the besieged city, dismissing the allegations as political manipulation linked to nationalist rhetoric during his youth.
