‘They competed over who would shoot the most beautiful.’ Shocking ‘price list’ for human safaris in Sarajevo

Austrian prosecutors have launched an investigation into alleged "human safaris" that took place over three decades ago in Sarajevo. Reports suggest that wealthy foreigners paid for the opportunity to shoot civilians during the city's siege in the 1990s. Similar investigations are already underway in Italy and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Hrvojem Margetić, a Croatian journalist, has revealed shocking details in his latest book, "Pay and Shoot." The book describes a practice where affluent foreigners allegedly paid substantial sums for the chance to kill civilians in besieged Sarajevo. Documents cited in the book indicate that the prices varied depending on the target, with Western nationals reportedly among those who paid for these killings.

According to The Sunday Times, the book claims participants in these macabre excursions paid 80,000 German marks (approximately $53,000 at the time) for the chance to kill a middle-aged woman. The price increased to 95,000 marks for young women and 110,000 marks (around $72,000) for pregnant women. Margetić bases his account partly on documents allegedly provided by a Bosnian intelligence officer who was killed in 1996.

"He wrote that foreigners competed over who would shoot the most beautiful women," the journalist told The Sunday Times. The book suggests that while Serbian intermediaries were involved in these transactions, the concept originated in Croatia. Margetić claims a man who previously worked for Yugoslav intelligence services was involved, and that the operation was organized and supported by security services. "It was an activity carried out by security services because foreigners were involved," Margetić stated.

The Austrian Ministry of Justice confirmed in May that its investigation concerns one Austrian citizen and another unidentified individual. Witnesses have reportedly told German radio station Deutschlandfunk that individuals referred to as "sniper tourists" paid Bosnian Serb forces large sums in the 1990s for the opportunity to commit war crimes, shooting at civilians from a safe distance.