The president of Serbia is facing accusations of involvement in alleged “human safaris,” where affluent tourists reportedly paid substantial sums to hunt down innocent civilians for entertainment. Shocking claims have emerged that foreign visitors paid £70,000 for a weekend expedition to shoot individuals in Sarajevo during the ’90s Bosnian War, while the city was under siege. The capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina endured a prolonged military blockade from 1992 to 1996, besieged by Serb forces. A Croatian journalist has lodged a complaint in Milan, asserting that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić orchestrated and participated in these purportedly horrific human hunting activities.
Investigative journalist Domagoj Margetic alleged that Vučić was linked to these events between 1992 and 1993, claiming that Vučić volunteered with a Bosnian Serb militia during that time. These allegations resurfaced following the circulation of a chilling video showing a militia leader, Slavko Aleksic, standing near a car with a human skull on the hood, allegedly obtained from the hunting trips, adorned with a UN helmet.
Margetic, through social media, declared that he possessed evidence of Vučić’s involvement in these activities during his youth. Despite Vučić’s denial of the allegations, labeling them as malicious disinformation designed to tarnish Serbia’s reputation, Margetic continued to assert his claims. The journalist reported to the Milan prosecutors that Vučić had served as a “war volunteer” with the New Sarajevo Chetnik Detachment of the Army of Republika Srpska, led by Aleksic, during the siege of Sarajevo.
Additionally, Margetic referenced a 1994 interview where Vučić admitted to volunteering during the Sarajevo siege and a 1993 video purportedly showing the president carrying a rifle alongside armed men in a Jewish cemetery. Vučić countered these allegations, stating that he was merely holding an umbrella or a tripod, refuting claims of his direct involvement in combat activities.
The Serbian president has consistently denied any involvement in shooting civilians during the Sarajevo siege, maintaining that he was primarily working as a journalist at the time. Italian investigative journalist Ezio Gavazzeni recently filed a formal complaint, alleging that wealthy individuals paid to target defenseless civilians, with differing rates based on the gender and age of the victims. Gavazzeni claimed that these individuals with alleged far-right affiliations would fly from Trieste to Belgrade, then proceed to the hills surrounding Sarajevo to target innocent civilians from Serbian positions.