Serbian president denies participation in Bosnia 'sniper tourism' scandal

The comment follows a complaint submitted to Italian prosecutors by a Croatian journalist, Domagoj Margetic, who claims that both video footage and subsequent testimony show the president was a "war volunteer" with Bosnian-Serb forces at positions overlooking the city.

Mr Margetic claims that the now-president either took part in or helped to organise the "sniper tourism" at the time, where foreigners allegedly paid Bosnian Serb forces to be allowed to shoot civilians from positions overlooking the besieged city.

Speaking at a UK-Western Balkans business conference in Belgrade, the Serbian president said he has "never killed anyone, wounded anyone, or done anything similar".

Mr Vucic added that he had "never held a sniper rifle in my life", and that pictures claiming to show him holding a weapon actually show him carrying a "camera tripod".

He denied the claims levelled by the Croatian journalist, saying it was an attempt to "present me as a monster, as an inhuman, as someone who not only has no emotions, but is a cold-blooded murderer".

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In his accusation, Mr Margetic said that videos from the 1990s and testimony by Bosnian officials after the incident support his claims.

From 1992-1996, Yugoslavia was torn apart by war, leaving 11,000 dead during the four-year siege of Sarajevo. The city was surrounded by Serb forces and subject to constant shelling and sniper fire throughout the conflict.

Earlier this month, Italian prosecutors opened an investigation into allegations that wealthy foreigners had paid to shoot at civilians during the siege of Sarajevo - including some wealthy Italians.

The investigation followed a complaint by an Italian writer who had seen the 2022 Slovenian documentary film, Sarajevo Safari, which was the source of the allegations.

The film writer, Ezio Gavazzeni, claims that wealthy travellers paid large sums to go on "sniper safaris" and shoot at civilians in Sarajevo as the war raged.

The claims made by Mr Margetic about the president volunteering were strongly denied by Mr Vucic's spokesperson Suzana Vasiljevic, who called them "a textbook case of malicious disinformation" built to "erode the institutional credibility" of the nation and its leader.

She claimed that at the time, Mr Vucic had actually been working as a journalist and translator in nearby Pale "without any contact with military structures or operational activities".

"This narrative is devoid of factual grounding and is operationally crafted to generate reputational damage.

"President Vucic did not participate in combat activities, did not use weapons, and had no role in any wartime operations."

Allegations of "human hunters" from abroad have been made several times over the years, however a chief prosecutor in The Hague has reportedly said the organisation has no information about the claims.

UK special forces troops who served in Sarajevo during the siege have been quoted as calling the allegations an "urban myth".

Bosnia's war crimes prosecutor received a complaint in 2022, but has not issued any indictment.