In the early 1990s, the West watched the siege of Sarajevo with horror as the Serb-Bosnian militants shot innocent civilians during “human safaris.”
More than 30 years later, prosecutors Milan opened an investigation into Italian tourists accused of paying £70,000 to take part in this 'human safari' shooting and killing innocent Bosnians.
Prosecutors allege that these “tourists”, many with links to far-right circles, paid the Bosnian Serb army for weekend trips to Sarajevo, where they shot from rooftops into the city below.
They paid extra to kill children with sniper rifles, according to court records.
The shooting in the city was so heavy that two main streets, Zmajja od Bosne Street and Mesa Selimović Boulevard, were nicknamed “sniper alley”.
Milanese writer and journalist Ezio Gavazzeni said: “We are talking about wealthy men of reputation – businessmen – who paid for the murder of unarmed civilians during the siege of Sarajevo.
“They left Trieste for the manhunt and then returned to their respectable daily lives,” he said.
There may be more than 100 “tourists” who have flown into the war zone and may be called to testify in court.
There are also claims that Bosnian intelligence had evidence of Italian presence in the hills surrounding Sarajevo.
The Bosnian consul in Milan, Dag Dumrukcic, told La Repubblica: “We are committed to uncovering the truth about such a brutal case and settling scores with the past. I am aware of some information that I will contribute to the investigation.”
During the siege of Sarajevo, electricity, gas and water were cut off, leaving the city's residents without access to vital infrastructure.
Former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and Bosnian Serb Army Sarajevo-Romanian Corps commander Stanislav Galic were found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity in The Hague in connection with the attack.
Both were eventually sentenced to life in prison. Karadzic is serving his sentence in the UK, while Galic was taken to Germany.
The siege ended in 1995, leaving 13,952 people dead. 5,434 of these casualties were civilians.
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