Bosnian war reporter recalls early notes on “Safari tourists” who paid to shoot civilians in Sarajevo

Hodzic says he first encountered the allegation on April 1st, 1995, when Oslobodjenje daily published a front-page article titled Safari on Sarajevo. “I read it, and at first I thought it couldn’t be true, that it was some kind of intelligence dispute,” he recalled, noting that the day had been calm due to a ceasefire.

Four days later, on 5 April, while covering the third anniversary of the Vikic Special Forces at Skenderija, he encountered wartime commander Mustafa “Talijan” Hajrulahovic. “He was waiting for me,” Hodzic said, describing how he asked him about the allegations. According to Hodzic, Hajrulahovic told him the matter had already been raised with the Italian government. Hajrulahovic, who had been in Italy and maintained contacts there, allegedly described the practice as “monstrous,” claiming that individuals from Italy were paying Bosnian Serb forces to kill Sarajevans. “And it wasn’t even news anymore when a civilian was killed, the news was when a child was killed,” Hodzic recalled from the early reporting.

These notes later appeared in his book Alija Izetbegovic, Official and Unofficial.

Hodzic said the rumors were widespread in Sarajevo, though many doubted them at the time. With around 50 sniper positions around the city, he recalled writing that “many were killing us, yet we would somehow survive even these hunters.” Even today, he said he still grapples with the truthfulness of the claims, though he increasingly believes they were real. He referred to the original Oslobodjenje article, which cited a man who said Bosnian Serb soldiers on Pale had offered him a rifle and sniper to “take shots”, an offer he refused.

Over the years, Hodzic said, the stories coming out of the siege grew progressively darker. He remembered passing near the Holiday Inn in 1995, where UNPROFOR vehicles and around 20 photojournalists were assembled waiting for sniper fire. The presence of so many photographers made him wonder whether some journalists may have coordinated with shooters in hopes of capturing dramatic images.

He also reflected on his own survival through sniper-ridden streets, fear at first, later numbness. Today, nearly 30 years later, he fears that even Italian prosecutors will lack sufficient documentation to deliver legal accountability, leaving victims’ families without even “a fragment of justice.”