Austria’s government has revealed it is investigating sickening reports that wealthy citizens paid big money to hunt innocent people under the cover of the Bosnian war.
The European nation’s justice ministry said Tuesday that “an investigation was opened” late last month “against an Austrian citizen and another as-yet-unidentified individual in connection with possible participation in so-called ‘sniper tours’ in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War,” according to Agence-France Presse (AFP).
The announcement came just weeks after Croatian investigative journalist Domagoj Margetić’s book “Pay and Shoot” claimed an Austrian aristocrat was among the snipers, according to the Times of London.
Margetić said he spoke with an ex-Bosnian Serb army major, who told him “an Austrian who came in late 1992 and in 1993 was nicknamed ‘Grof’ by the Serbs, which means ‘Count’ in Serbo-Croatian.”
“I have also been told that Serbian soldiers at Sarajevo checkpoints remember hunters showing Austrian passports,” Margetić said.
Austria is just the latest country to investigate the disturbing activity that took place during the siege of Sarajevo – a blockade which lasted from April 1992 until February 1996 and saw more than 10,000 people killed.
“These allegations concern the gravest war crimes and must be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted. There can be no room for impunity,” Alma Zadic, a former justice manager, stressed in a question submitted to the current justice department.
“The idea that people may have paid money in order to deliberately shoot at civilians — even children — is almost unimaginable in its cruelty.
“Such acts represent a level of contempt for humanity that leaves one speechless. The victims and their relatives have a right to truth, justice and clarification.”
Investigative journalist Ezio Gavazzeni previously uncovered evidence that sniper tourists paid north of $90,000 to shoot people, including women and kids.
“There were Germans, French, English … people from all Western countries who paid large sums of money to be taken there to shoot civilians,” he said in his report.
“There were no political or religious motivations. They were rich people who went there for fun and personal satisfaction. We are talking about people who love guns who perhaps go to shooting ranges or on safari in Africa.”
He first heard about sniper tourism in the 1990s, but investigated further after watching a 2022 documentary that featured an ex-Serb soldier who claimed foreigners would shoot at residents from the hills in Sarajevo.
Last November, Italian prosecutors opened a probe into sniper tourism and Margetić filed a complaint with Milan prosecutors, accusing Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic of being involved in the activity — allegations he strongly denies.
He claimed he’s “never held a sniper rifle in my life” and said he had “never killed anyone, wounded anyone, or done anything similar”.
In February, an 80-year-old Italian man was put under investigation on charges including premeditated murder as part of the probe.
