President denies taking part in alleged ‘human safaris’ where rich people paid to shoot civilians

Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic said he is not the ‘monster’ and ‘cold-blooded murderer’ he has been alleged to be

The Serbian President has denied having any involvement in ‘human safari’ hunts in Sarajevo, which rich Europeans allegedly forked out five-figure sums for. Investigative journalist Domagoj Margetic claimed that the country’s leader, Aleksandar Vucic, worked with gun-toting tourists while volunteering with Bosnian Serb troops in the early 90s. But the president’s spokesperson has now branded the allegations ‘malicious disinformation’, while also claiming that he never even picked up a weapon during this period.

Vucic himself said the claims – which he vehemently denies – have been made to paint him as a ‘monster, as an inhuman, as someone who not only has no emotions, but is a cold-blooded murderer’. It comes weeks after a slew of shocking allegations about Sarajevo first came to light following an investigation by Italian journalist Ezio Gavazzeni.

He filed a complaint with prosecutors in Milan, claiming that wealthy foreigners paid to participate in ‘human safaris’ and shot at innocent civilians in the Bosnian capital while it was under siege.

Europeans – including Italians, Germans, French and English nationals – are alleged to have shelled out up to £70,000 to fire at people in the city for their entertainment during the Bosnian War.

“There were no political or religious motivations,” Gavazzeni said. “They were rich people who went there for fun and personal satisfaction.”

On Tuesday (18 November), fellow reporter Margetic announced he, too, had filed a complaint with Italian prosecutors, which alleges that the Serbian President took part in the so-called ‘sniper tourism’ trade, Politico reported.

He claims that Vucic was a ‘war volunteer’ in Sarajevo in 1992 and 1993, who was allegedly stationed at a Jewish cemetery above the city ‘which was the most exclusive and expensive position for foreign shooters’.

Margetic further claimed that footage from 1993 shows the country’s leader clutching a sniper rifle next to a host of other armed men.

“I believe he was involved in the Sarajevo safari,” the journalist said of Vucic’s alleged involvement, as per The Times. “There is no doubt that in 1992 and 1993, Vucic was at the Jewish cemetery, which was the most exclusive and expensive position for foreign shooters.”

However, both Vucic and his spokeswoman have rubbished the allegations, claiming they are a ‘textbook case of malicious disinformation, purpose-built to erode the institutional credibility of the Republic of Serbia and its president’.

The 55-year-old politician, who was elected into power in 2017, also denied the claims while speaking at the UK and Western Balkans regional business conference in Belgrade on Thursday (20 November).

Responding to a journalist’s question about the alleged ‘human safaris’, Vucic said: “I listened in the previous days and wouldn’t have even looked back, but then they said from here in our country that I killed children who were in their mother’s arms. I have never killed anyone, wounded anyone, or done anything similar.

“I have never held a sniper in my life. I have never had that rifle you are talking about, because it is a camera tripod. Shame on you. And there is not a thing that you have not invented, that you have not lied about.”

The president added: “There is not a word that you have not uttered in order to present me as a monster, as an inhuman, as someone who not only has no emotions, but is a cold-blooded murderer.”

His spokeswoman, Suzana Vasiljevic, also echoed these denials.

“This narrative is devoid of factual grounding and is operationally crafted to generate reputational damage,” she said. “President Vucic did not participate in combat activities, did not use weapons, and had no role in any wartime operations.”

According to Vasiljevic, the president did not have ‘any contact with military structures or operational activities’ and was working as a journalist and translator in the village of Pale.

Earlier this week, a mother claimed that her six-year-old son was a victim of the alleged sniper tourists in Sarajevo, claiming that her child was killed for their ‘amusement’.