Khaberni - In the early nineties, the most heinous crimes occurred that accompanied the Siege of Sarajevo, where a phenomenon called "Sarajevo Safari" emerged, wherein wealthy foreigners paid huge sums to snipe innocent civilians in the besieged Bosnian capital.
This was reported in an article by The Times' correspondent in Italy, Tom Kington, which revealed one of the most atrocious crimes committed during the Balkan Wars, wherein wealthy individuals from Britain, Italy, Germany, and other countries were accused of paying large sums to snipe civilians, including children and pregnant women.
Boisterous Nighttime Celebrations
The story starts with the testimony of Alexander Litichanin, a former volunteer in a Bosnian Serb tank unit, who witnessed these appalling acts followed by boisterous nighttime celebrations held by these sniper tourists after spending their day harvesting the lives of the innocent from the city's hills.
Litichanin describes these foreigners, according to the report, as being dressed in stylish clothes and expensive leather jackets, receiving special privileges to access strategic sniping locations for amounts ranging from 200 to 400 German Marks per position, with the full safari trip costing up to 88,000 British pounds in some cases, with an additional pricing for those specifically targeting children or pregnant women.
Sadistic Tourists
The report indicates that these snipers were not just transient fighters but sadistic tourists who rejoiced in killing humans, then gathered at night in cafes to devour pork, sip on whiskey and cognac, singing and laughing until dawn, indifferent to the blood they had spilled.
Witnesses affirm that these foreigners were protected by a Serbian militia led by Slavko Aleksic, described as a psychopathic figure, who supervised providing targets and facilitating the killings.
Controversially, the report alleges that the current Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic, was present at the time as a young member of the Radical Party, sometimes serving as an interpreter for these foreigners in cafes, a claim strongly denied by Vucic, asserting his presence only as a journalist.
These accounts are not limited to former fighters but are corroborated by Zlatko Miletic, the former Sarajevo police chief and current parliament member, who confirmed that anti-sniper squads spotted foreign snipers among them Romanian women who concealed themselves in concrete trenches and killed dozens of civilians.
After Decades of Silence
The report also refers to the current Italian investigations targeting weapons collectors and Italian nationals, which have reopened this painful file after three decades of silence.
In the background of the story plays the role of the Croatian investigative journalist Domagoj Margititic, who collected documents and evidence claiming the involvement of political figures and confirming the existence of organized transport lines for tourists via buses or helicopters from Belgrade to the battlefronts.
The report states that "Sarajevo Safari represents the darkest face of human brutality, where the suffering of a besieged city and the death of its children turned into a sport paid for by psychologically troubled wealthy individuals who found in the absence of law and accountability the opportunity to vent their absolute sadism.
The report adds that this case now represents a test for international justice and criminal investigations in Italy and other countries, to uncover the identity of these killers who have survived with their deeds for long decades.
