(MENAFN) Belgian prosecutors may investigate claims that nationals from their country took part in so-called “sniper tourism” during the 1990s siege of Sarajevo, according to former international judge Chris Van den Wyngaert.

The comments follow the launch of a probe in Milan last week into allegations that wealthy foreign visitors paid to shoot at civilians from hills surrounding Sarajevo during the Bosnian War, with Bosnian Serb forces reportedly facilitating the activity as “human safaris.”

The Italian investigation stems from a complaint by journalist and author Ezio Gavazzeni, who researched the alleged incidents. Reports indicate that several Italian citizens traveled to Sarajevo during the siege to join Serb sniper units, targeting civilians for “entertainment.” According to media accounts, the individuals were not military personnel but “radical far-right war tourists.”

Speaking on the radio program De Ochtend, Van den Wyngaert — who served as a judge at both the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia — said she had never encountered evidence of such actions during her tenure. "I didn't believe it, it was so unbelievable," she remarked. "I spent seven years at the tribunal and had never heard of this until now. The rumors have existed for a long time, but no proof has been found yet."

Van den Wyngaert emphasized that if Belgian nationals were involved, they could not be tried by the ICC because the court did not exist at the time. However, Belgian prosecutors could still pursue their own investigation. She noted that, since the alleged perpetrators were civilians, their actions would not fall under wartime legal statutes.

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