When last fall the Milan prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into the so-called human safaris In Sarajevo—those supposed trips by Western tourists to kill civilians during the terrible siege (1992-1996) that the Bosnian capital suffered—journalist Domagoj Margetić felt recognized for the work of a lifetime. Margetić (1974), who became obsessed with the case in the nineties, not without incurring some controversy, decided to go even further and accused the current Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić, of having been part of that horror. Something that Vučić has flatly denied, calling Margetić — of Croatian nationality, but also an Orthodox Serb by religion — a liar and blaming him for wanting to blame the Serbs as the only ones responsible for the crimes committed during the Balkan wars.
But the earthquake in Serbia did not make Margetić back down. This February he also convinced one of his sources, a former soldier in the regular units of the Bosnian Serb side, to come forward, give his testimony to the British press and make himself available as a witness in the Italian investigation, which is progressing in an uncertain manner. “I did it because since September three crucial witnesses in this case died unexpectedly. I think there are more chances of winning the lottery than for this to happen,” he said in this interview with EL PERIÓDICO. In it he also claimed to have an extensive archive of evidence about the case – some published on his social networks – including transcripts of interviews, videos and documents from the time, including “500 pages alone from the archive of Slavko Aleksić’s paramilitary group”, indicated by various sources as the person in charge of these alleged tourist packages to enjoy the death of others.
Since when have you investigated war crimes committed in the Balkan wars?
Since the nineties. I have investigated about ten major cases and have even given testimony in court cases in Serbia and Croatia, among others, for crimes committed by Croatian forces in the city of Sisak against Serbian civilians. And this is interesting because now the Serbian president accuses me of blaming only the Serbs, but most of my investigations have been about crimes committed by Croats.
I imagine that Vučić told him that after he accused him of being part of the paramilitary unit accused of the human safaris in Sarajevo.
Yes, and he also said that I am a Ustasha[aliados croatas de los nazis durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial]. It is a paradox because, by religion, I am Orthodox Serbian and part of my mother’s family was murdered in the Jasenovac concentration camp.[en territorio croata]which was one of the fields of the Ustashawhile my father’s father was decorated for the anti-fascist struggle.
Civilians run on Sarajevo’s so-called sniper avenue, protected by a UN tank, in April 1995. /RICARD LARMA/AP
When did you start investigating the Sarajevo case?
I first heard about it in 1995, and the following year I met a Bosnian agent, Nedžad Uhljen, who had opened an investigation and was then pressured to close it, even from the Bosnian presidency itself. But he was old school, well trained, and he refused to do it. The last time I saw him, in June 1996, he told me that they had ordered his murder; I didn’t believe him at the time, but in September of that year he was killed in the center of Sarajevo.
I understand that Aleksandar Licanin, a former volunteer in a Bosnian Serb unit who claims to have witnessed these events, has agreed to testify before the Milan prosecutor’s office. If prosecutors finally call you, do you think your testimony is trustworthy?
Absolutely yes. I interviewed him myself and I know that he knows many details; details that only someone who was there can know, such as the path and the exact checkpoint through which these people entered. That checkpoint was called Vraca. He has also given me an official paper from Republika Srpska, which attests that he was a volunteer for a unit of the Bosnian Serb regular forces that was stationed in the Grbavica area and the Jewish cemetery from which they fired.
What nationalities were these tourist-snipers?
He has talked about Italians, Germans, Americans, Spanish, Romanians.
Spanish?
But he didn’t see them, he only heard about Spaniards. However, it has not been my only source. Seven other former soldiers, including some former volunteers from the paramilitary unit that managed these trips and others from the regular forces of the Bosnian Serb Army, also told me about Spanish hunters in the Grbavica area, in Sarajevo. I know them in person [a estos exsoldados]; What I have not been able to do is rebuild much more.
Margetić also makes a distinction here between the forces considered regular of the Bosnian Serb side and the paramilitary unit of Slavko Aleksić who, according to his investigations, the testimony of Licanin and other sources, was in charge of the macabre business. Specifically, according to him, the paramilitary unit in question had special authorization to go through checkpoints, which prevented the other soldiers from asking too many questions about their movements, although after the hunts the group and their clients celebrated in restaurants.
If I understand correctly, you have spoken to at least nine witnesses who say they saw what was happening. Who are the others?
Mostly former members of the paramilitary unit led by, which was called the Novosarajevo Chetnik Unit. But Aleksić died recently[en diciembre pasado]something very convenient, like two other members of the same unit, who were in charge of logistical matters and who also died since the opening of the Italian investigation became known in September. The latter two lived in Serbia, while the curious thing about Aleksić is that, despite the fact that everyone in Sarajevo knew that he was one of the main people responsible for terrorizing the city’s population, he continued to live in Bosnia and no one ever arrested him.
They died…
Yeah. [Eran miembros] from the unit that Vučić was also in. He says I’m lying, but there are several videos and interviews from the nineties, in which he claims to have been a military volunteer at the Jewish cemetery in Sarajevo. Therefore, I wonder: which Vučić should we believe, the one before or the one now? There is even a video from 2006 that I found in which he says that he was a volunteer there and that he knew every corner.
What do you think of the research in Italy?
Don’t know. We have to wait. But, regarding the first suspect called to testify by the Milan prosecutor’s office, this [excamionero] Italian, the public information that has been disseminated is not convincing. It seems like they have nothing, just the story he tells. If he was really there, the questions are: where did he get the money? Who were the others [turistas‑francotiradores] who were part of your group? For the entire trip and the experience of shooting civilians, the organizers were asking them for thousands of German marks, an amount of money that I don’t think a truck driver could have. Also, I have the name of another Italian, his first and last name, and he traveled in a group of five. I have sent that information to prosecutors. If they really want to reconstruct the truth, they have to investigate how the system as a whole worked.
Are the Bosnian authorities cooperating?
I don’t believe them. They are very connected to Vučić’s environment. One prosecutor, in charge of war crimes, even received a decoration from Vučić that was for her father.
Has any other judicial authority in the countries contacted these alleged tourist-snipers?
Nobody. A representative of the US Congress did publicly ask that the FBI investigate those involved in the US. The interesting thing is that among the organizers there was also one, who is still alive, of Serbian origin but born in New York. I have several images and a video of when they took these people to sniper positions.
Margetić now explains that there were three routes through which tourist-snipers arrived in Sarajevo, the main one being from Belgrade, and that he has documents signed by Aleksić stating that this unit was the only one in charge. He also claims that there were Russian volunteers in the group and that the unit had a connection with the Serbian Radical Party.[del que fue miembro también Vučić hasta 2008 y cuyo presidente y fundador era Vojislav Šešelj, condenado en 2018 por crímenes de guerra por La Haya]. He also estimates that in total the clients could have been between 200 and 300.
Was there also human safaris in other Bosnian cities?
Yes, in Mostar, but those were organized by the Croatian forces.
¿Croats?
Yes, the HVO [la principal fuerza militar de la República Croata de Herzeg‑Bosnia, entidad autónoma croata en Bosnia y Herzegovina, activa durante la guerra de Bosnia entre 1991 y 1994]. These arrived via Split, which was the safest way to get there.
But isn’t this connected to Sarajevo safaris?
No. It happened in the same period, from 1992 to 1995, and there is no investigation into it. But witnesses have spoken of Italians, Germans, Canadians and Hungarians. There is much less information about this.
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