Of all the grim specters that haunted the besieged city of Sarajevo—the crump of mortars, the gnawing hunger—the most terrifying was the silent, invisible one. The sniper. For 1,425 days, its citizens lived as targets in a kill box, their once-vibrant Olympic city transformed into a slaughterhouse where over 10,000 souls, including 1,500 children, were cut down.
Now, three decades after the blood soaked into the pavements of Sarajevo, a new, profoundly disturbing chapter of that horror is being unearthed. Italian authorities in Milan have launched a formal investigation into allegations so chilling they defy belief: that during the siege, wealthy Europeans paid vast sums of money to travel to the surrounding hills and take part in organized "human safaris," shooting civilians for sport.
The case, built upon a groundbreaking complaint by journalist Ezio Gavazzeni, inspired by the 2022 documentary Sarajevo Safari, alleges that a secret, savage tourism industry thrived in the shadow of war. The participants weren't ideologically driven soldiers, but affluent "gun enthusiasts" from Western Europe—Germans, French, British, and Italians—who saw the hellscape of Sarajevo not as a tragedy, but as a playground.
The Price of a Human Life
According to witness testimony and intelligence reports, the going rate for this macabre excursion could exceed €100,000. The package, as gruesome as it was sophisticated, allegedly began in the Italian border city of Trieste. From there, the "tourists" would travel to Belgrade, be escorted by Bosnian Serb soldiers to the sniper nests overlooking Sarajevo, and be given high-powered rifles. For an additional, even more unthinkable fee, they could specifically request to target children.
The Italian press has dubbed them the "Weekend Snipers." Their motive, as described by Gavazzeni, was stripped of any political or religious pretence. It was a motive of pure, unadulterated evil: "the desire for personal pleasure." They came not for a cause, but for the thrill. They came to kill for fun.
Echoes from the Hills
The revelations, while shocking, are not entirely new. As early as 1995, Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper published a report on "sniper tourism." The recent documentary features a former Serbian soldier speaking of foreigners who would come to the hills "to shoot at the population as a form of entertainment." Gavazzeni’s investigation goes further, claiming to have gathered evidence, including from Bosnian intelligence sources, who alerted their Italian counterparts (SISMI) as early as 1994 about these excursions, explicitly stating that these were not local militiamen, but "sniper tourists."
Why Now? The Long Road to Justice
The question hangs heavy in the air: Why, after thirty years, is this case coming to light now? The answer lies in the relentless pursuit of truth by journalists and filmmakers, and in the simple, painful fact that some wounds never fully heal. The memories of those who lost children to a faceless, laughing sniper on a hill have not faded. This investigation is a testament to the enduring cry for justice, however delayed.
The Bosnian Consulate in Milan has pledged its full cooperation. Prosecutors are now sifting through evidence, cross-referencing names, and preparing to question at least five Italian suspects whose identities have been uncovered. This is no longer just a historical footnote; it is an active hunt for perpetrators.
A Chilling Legacy
The investigation in Milan forces us to confront an uncomfortable and horrifying reality. The Bosnian War was not just a conflict of ethnic hatreds; it was also a magnet for the very worst of human nature—a place where absolute depravity could be commodified and sold to the highest bidder. It reveals a darkness that can lurk behind the facade of civilization, a thirst for violence so profound it becomes a luxury good.
As the wheels of justice finally begin to turn, slowly and belatedly, the world is reminded that the siege of Sarajevo was not one story, but thousands. And some of its most horrifying chapters, written in the ledger books of death and the diaries of thrill-seekers, are only now being read. The ghosts of Sarajevo demand to be heard.