‘Sniper tourists’ scandal: Probe launched into Italians who allegedly paid to shoot civilians in 1990s Sarajevo siege

Prosecutors in Milan have launched an investigation into Italians accused of paying Bosnian Serb soldiers to shoot civilians during the four-year siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s — one of the darkest chapters of the Bosnian War, The Guardian reported.

More than 10,000 people were killed during the siege, which lasted from 1992 to 1996, making it the longest in modern history. According to the report, the so-called “sniper tourists” allegedly paid large sums to soldiers in the army of Radovan Karadžić — the former Bosnian Serb leader convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity — to be taken to the hills surrounding the city to target civilians for sport.

Investigation in Milan

The investigation, led by Milan prosecutor Alessandro Gobbi, is aimed at identifying the Italians involved, who could face charges of voluntary murder aggravated by cruelty and abject motives, the report stated.

The probe was triggered by a complaint from Milan-based writer Ezio Gavazzeni, who gathered evidence on the alleged sniper tourists, and by a report submitted by Benjamina Karić, the former mayor of Sarajevo.

Allegations traced to documentary

Gavazzeni said he first came across reports of “sniper tourists” in the Italian press during the 1990s but began investigating in earnest after watching Sarajevo Safari, a 2022 documentary by Slovenian director Miran Zupanič. In the film, a former Serb soldier and a contractor claimed that groups of Westerners were allowed to shoot at civilians from the hills around Sarajevo — claims denied by Serbian war veterans, according to the report.

“Sarajevo Safari was the starting point,” Gavazzeni told the news outlet. “I began a correspondence with the director and from there expanded my investigation until I collected enough material to present to the Milan prosecutors.”

‘Rich people who went there for fun’

Gavazzeni alleged that “many, many, many Italians” were among the foreign participants, though he did not provide an exact number. “There were Germans, French, English … people from all Western countries who paid large sums of money to be taken there to shoot civilians,” he said.

He added that those involved had no political or religious motives. “They were rich people who went there for fun and personal satisfaction. We are talking about people who love guns who perhaps go to shooting ranges or on safari in Africa,” the news outlet quoted him as saying.

Gavazzeni claimed the Italian suspects would meet in Trieste and travel to Belgrade, where Bosnian Serb soldiers escorted them to the hills overlooking Sarajevo. “There was a traffic of war tourists who went there to shoot people. I call it an indifference towards evil,” he said.

Evidence

Gavazzeni said he had identified several Italian individuals alleged to have been involved, who are expected to be questioned by prosecutors in the coming weeks.

Nicola Brigida, a lawyer assisting Gavazzeni, told The Guardian that the collected evidence “is well substantiated and could lead to serious investigation to identify the culprits.”