Milan Prosecutor โLaunches Investigation into Alleged โ’Sniper Tourism’ During โBosnian โwar
Milan, Italy โ – Theโ Milan Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into claims that wealthy individuals participated in “human shooting tourism” during theโ Bosnianโ War in the 1990s, paying significant sumsโ to allegedly shoot civilians in Sarajevo.Theโข probe was prompted by a dossier submitted by Italian journalist Ezio Gavazzeni,who has been researching the โฃallegations forโ decades.
The investigation centers aroundโ accusations that “safaris” were โขorganized allowingโค individuals to target people with โฃsniperโฃ rifles โduring the โsiege ofโ Sarajevo.โฃ Gavazzeni’s 17-page dossier, โreportedly including aโ report from former Sarajevo mayor Benjamina Karic,โฃ suggests โat least one Italian citizen paidโ approximately 100,000 euros (roughly 1.9 billionโ Indonesian Rupiah at current exchange rates) โto participate in such an event. The claims โsurfaced initially in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera thirty years ago, but lacked significant โขevidence until recently.
The renewed focus on these allegations stemsโข from โtheโ 2022 documentary “Sarajevo Safari” by Slovenian director Miran Zupanic, which alleges involvement from individuals across multiple โnations, โคincluding the US, Russia,โ and Italy. While the โinvestigationโข in bosnia itself โappears stalled, Gavazzeni’s research has spurred action โขin Italy.
The siege ofโฃ Sarajevo, lasting nearly โfour years, wasโข the โฃlongest siege โคof a capital city inโฃ modern โฃwarfare. The city, โa โcultural crossroads of Islamic, Jewish, and Christian traditions,โ was โขa focal point of โคthe Bosnian War, โฃwhich followedโ theโข assassination in Sarajevo that ignited Worldโ War I and hosted โthe 1984 Winter Olympics.
British troopsโข whoโฃ served โin โฃSarajevo during theโ conflictโฃ have expressed skepticism regarding the claims. Speaking to the BBC, veterans statedโ they had never encountered evidence of “sniper tourism”โ and suggested such operations would have been difficult to conceal given the extensive checkpoint โnetwork. One soldier dismissedโ the accusations as an “urban โขmyth.” Despiteโฃ this, the Milan Prosecutor’sโ Office is proceeding with its โขinvestigation, seeking โto โฃdetermine the veracity of the disturbing allegations.
