In brief
The public prosecutor's office in Milan has initiated an inquiry into claims that Italian nationals engaged in 'sniper safaris' during the Bosnian War, purportedly paying high fees to shoot at unsuspecting civilians. Journalist Ezio Gavazzeni brought forth the accusations, emphasizing the brutality of the actions taken by tourists alongside evidence collected, including testimonies from military intelligence. Prosecutors are focusing on potential murder charges as the investigation progresses.
The public prosecutor's office in Milan has opened an investigation into claims that Italian citizens travelled to Bosnia-Herzegovina on 'sniper safaris' during the war in the early 1990s. Italians and others are alleged to have paid large sums to shoot at civilians in the besieged city of Sarajevo.The Milan complaint was filed by journalist and novelist Ezio Gavazzeni, who describes a 'manhunt' by 'very wealthy people' with a passion for weapons who 'paid to be able to kill defenceless civilians' from Serb positions in the hills around Sarajevo. Different rates were charged to kill men, women or children, according to some reports.More than 11,000 people died during the brutal four-year siege of Sarajevo. Yugoslavia was torn apart by war, and the city was surrounded by Serb forces and subjected to constant shelling and sniper fire. Similar allegations about 'human hunters' from abroad have been made over the years, but the evidence gathered by Gavazzeni, which includes the testimony of a Bosnian military intelligence officer, is now being examined by Italian counter-terrorism prosecutor Alessandro Gobbis.The charge is murder. The Bosnian officer apparently revealed that his colleagues found out about the so-called safaris in late 1993 and then passed on the information to Italy's Sismi military intelligence in early 1994. They discovered that 'safari' tourists would fly from the northern Italian border city of Trieste and then travel to the hills above Sarajevo.Ezio Gavazzeni, who usually writes about terrorism and the mafia, first read about the sniper tours to Sarajevo three decades ago. He returned to the topic after seeing 'Sarajevo Safari', a documentary movie which alleges that those involved in the killings came from several countries, including the US and Russia as well as Italy.Gavazzeni's investigation appears to indicate that Italians paid hefty sums to partake in this inhuman hunt, with claims that some individuals spent up to €100,000. He described their actions as the 'indifference of evil' as investigations continue to identify more witnesses and associates.}
