The story about foreigners, mostly Italians, who during the siege of Sarajevo paid to shoot from the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) positions at civilians, went around the world. Although known for 30 years, it has so far not attracted the attention of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian (BiH) judiciary. Many now place their hopes in the investigation by the Italian prosecution. But, lawyers say, the process that will be conducted in Milan will not be simple. Still, the very fact that it has been launched is an important message that war crimes do not expire.
The story was made public for the first time on April 1st, 1995, on the front page of Oslobodjenje, recalls long-time journalist and publicist Sefko Hodzic. Five days later, he also recorded it in his own war diary. Later, in his book, an article titled “Sniper Safari, for Sarajevans.” The news source at the time was Mustafa Hajrulahovic Talijan.
John Jordan’s Testimony
“He says, we have already raised this to the level of the Italian government, which was already after that text on the fifth day. He had already managed to somehow do that; he was in Italy anyway, probably had some connections there. This is a monstrous thing where people from Italy are paying Chetniks to kill Sarajevans. And there I read in that first text, he says that it was no longer news that a civilian was killed in Sarajevo, but the news was that a child was killed, that’s what mattered to them,” Hodzic says.
About the foreigners, the killers, already in 2007, before the Hague Tribunal, former U.S. Marine John Jordan testified. It was during the trial of Dragomir Milosevic, precisely for sniper activity directed at Sarajevo civilians. Jordan then, among other things, said:
“I witnessed on several occasions that persons who did not look to me like local residents, by their clothing, by the weapons they carried, by the way they moved, that is, how they were being led by local residents. I only saw them being taken and moved around well-known sniper positions.”
The story was revived in 2022 after the screening of a film by Slovenian author Miran Zupanic. That prompted the then mayor of Sarajevo, Benjamina Karic, to file a criminal complaint with the BiH Prosecutor’s Office against unknown persons. To this day, this institution has not done anything to verify the allegations. All eyes are on Italy.
“I am optimistic that such great interest from the world public and documented information, documented testimonies, simply must bear fruit. Sarajevo deserves that after 30 years, after more than 30 years. All our children deserve it, the families of the victims deserve it, and I think that every day here is of priceless importance,” Karic believes.
Still, the legal battle will not be simple, the profession warns. Thirty years have passed, witnesses are dying, aging, forgetting, says lawyer Dzevad Mahmutovic. But merely opening the investigation is important for the victims. It sends the message that war crimes do not expire. A particular challenge would be possible cooperation between the Italian judiciary and Serbia.
Possible Obstruction by Serbia?
“I believe that Serbia will obstruct as much as possible, considering that their security service was certainly involved, that is, Security and Intelligence Agency (BIA) or whatever it is called, and I think, they all the time at the Hague Tribunal, before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), tried to show that they had nothing to do with the crimes committed in BiH. So, likely obstruction again,” Mahmutovic assesses.
More than 11.500 Sarajevans were killed during the siege from VRS positions. Snipers instilled a particular terror.
Interview question: “How did you survive the snipers?”
Hodzic: I don’t know how I survived. There were those snipers everywhere. During those first days, I had some kind of… some shivers or something, but later everything was normal, that it was my job, that I was doing it, as a journalist, and nothing could happen to me, and it didn’t.
After the opening of the investigation in Italy, the story echoed around the world in numerous significant media outlets. But the Prosecutor’s Office in Milan has not made any statement since the beginning of the investigation, N1 writes.
