Human Safari? Inside the Claims of “Sniper Tourism” in Sarajevo

As Bosnia marks thirty years since the signing of the Dayton Agreement, a chilling allegation has resurfaced - one so grotesque it sounds almost unbelievable, yet one now being examined by prosecutors in Milan. During the siege of Sarajevo, according to claims emerging from Italian journalists and newly contacted whistleblowers, wealthy foreign visitors may have paid Bosnian Serb fighters to escort them to sniper positions overlooking the city, where civilians were deliberately targeted as if on a safari. If true, it would mean civilians in a European capital were killed not just out of hatred, but for sport. On today’s podcast, Tara Duggan speaks first with Zlata Filipović, whose childhood diary captured the terror and claustrophobia of life under sniper fire. Sometimes called the “Anne Frank of Sarajevo,” she reflects on memory, identity, the children lost, and parallels with recent events in Gaza. Then defence analyst Declan Power, who served with the Irish Army in Bosnia, joins Newstalk Daily to assess the allegations — where they came from, how credible they appear, and what mechanisms could allow something as macabre as “sniper tourism” to happen unnoticed by the wider world. ✉️ Email your thoughts or questions to [email protected].