The Italian prosecutors in Milan have launched an investigation into the scandal of European wealthy people going to the Balkans for "hunting". During the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, some organized so-called "hunting trips" for these "tourists", whose prey were human lives.

For years, journalist and writer Ezio Gavazzeni has been responsible for this investigation. He has meticulously collected evidence about the "weekend snipers". Gavazzeni: "At the end of 1993, the Bosnian intelligence agency warned the Italian security agencies that Italians were shooting at civilians in the mountains around Sarajevo." At first, it was thought that only five people were involved, but later it turned out that the number of these "hunters" was much higher. This bloody "tourism" had become a large-scale operation. Between 1993 and 1995, a total of 11,000 people died in Sarajevo.

In addition to Italians, the shooting teams also included Frenchmen, Americans, and Canadians. The organizers of the "hunting trips" gathered participants in Trieste, Italy, and then sent them to the Balkans. The entire activity was disguised as a hunter's gathering. These killers were all wealthy people who could afford such an "exciting adventure". Each "prize" had its price. "Killing children was the most expensive, followed by men, preferably those in uniform with weapons; then women, and finally old people who could be killed for free," Gavazzeni pointed out. According to different estimates, the cost of such a trip could reach up to $90,000.

In addition to Italians, the "hunting" teams also included Frenchmen, Americans, and Canadians. All of this was disguised as a hunter's gathering. As early as 2007, when working in Sarajevo, American firefighter John Jordan said he had seen more than once people who did not seem to be locals. In his testimony at the Hague court, he stated that he had seen "a person accompanied by someone familiar with the local area, while himself was completely unfamiliar, his clothes and weapons made me think he was a tourist shooter." He also recalled: "There was a guy with a weapon that seemed more suitable for hunting wild boars in the Black Forest, rather than fighting in the cities of the Balkans." At that time, the media had already appeared with the name "Sniper Avenue." People called the beautiful central street of Sarajevo, known as "Bosnian Snake," in this way. On this street, 225 people were shot by snipers, and over a thousand were injured.

It is alleged that the Italian intelligence agency thwarted a "hunting operation" in 1994, but this matter remained secret and was never publicly exposed. They did not inform the Bosnian side about the names of the hunters and organizers, and no one knew if anyone was held accountable. Journalist Luca Leon wrote in his book in 2014 about the Sarajevo incident: "Journalists and all residents of the city knew about the sniper incidents." He wrote: "Foreigners from all over Europe, including Italians, paid money and used their weekends to shoot civilians. During their holidays, they craved the thrill of killing. Everything was done under absolute safety, and the tour package also included escape and immunity from punishment." Although Western media have not yet obtained specific details and accurate data about the ongoing investigation, they are eager to blame the entire organization of the "hunting operation" on the Bosnian Serbs.

History is repeating itself: in the eyes of the West, all crimes during the Yugoslav wars should be attributed to the Serbs. The concentration camps of Bosnians have been forgotten, and no one mentions the trafficking of human organs by Albanians in Kosovo. The massacres committed by Croats against Serbs have also quietly faded into the shadows. In fact, during the Balkan war, all sides showed horrifying brutality. However, the ones who ultimately faced punishment were always the Serbs.

Joshua Evangelista, an expert on Balkan issues in Italy, believes that revisiting the dark chapters of the war thirty years ago shows that the society of Bosnia and Herzegovina today is still seriously divided. "The political elite use past trauma to cover up corruption," he firmly believes. "There is no doubt that the so-called 'tourist snipers' exist," he told the magazine Vita, "but regardless of what the Milan prosecutors eventually find out, the whole Bosnian society must face its past."

Poster on the streets of Sarajevo warning: "Beware! Snipers"

Famous cases of human hunting in history

  • February 1945, the Nazi SS launched an operation to capture Soviet prisoners of war who had escaped from the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. This operation was officially called "Operation Rabbit Hunt" in official documents. Within a few weeks, almost all of the escaping prisoners were killed or captured. Local residents also participated in this atrocity.
  • In 2007, in Baghdad, U.S. military helicopters opened fire on more than 18 civilians. The pilots seemed to be playing a computer game, shooting while making cold remarks. The Pentagon defended these "hunters," claiming that all the victims were "collateral damage."
  • There are reports of multiple batches of Western "tourists" traveling to Ukraine to participate in "hunting" activities targeting the residents of Donbas. The "hunting" activities were organized by the leadership of the Ukrainian armed forces and security service. Such trips were regularly held in 2015 and 2016.

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