Name: Italy probes Sarajevo sniper safaris
Uploaded: 2025-11-14T17:30:32.504Z
Duration: 2 min 34 s
Description: Prosecutors in Italy have opened an investigation into allegations that some of their nationals travelled to Sarajevo during the war in the 1990s and paid large sums of money to shoot and kill people including children.

Prosecutors in Italy have opened an investigation into allegations that some of their nationals travelled to Sarajevo during the war in the 1990s and paid large sums of money to shoot and kill people including children.

Sarajevo

Italian authorities have launched an investigation into allegations that wealthy foreigners, including Italians, participated in so-called 'sniper safaris' during the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s. According to a complaint filed by journalist Ezio Gavazzani, individuals reportedly paid to shoot civilians from the hills surrounding the city, with different fees charged based on the victim's identity.

Witnesses and evidence, including testimony from a former Bosnian military intelligence officer, support claims of foreign involvement in these activities. Bosnian authorities previously opened an investigation, but progress has reportedly stalled, and questions remain about the perpetrators and those who may have facilitated these crimes.

Italy probes Sarajevo 'sniper safaris'

Surrounded by mountains, Sarajevo once became a sniper nest during the siege of the city in the 1990s. Thousands of civilians were shot from these very hills, then held by Bosnian Serb forces. Now, it's alleged some of those bullets were fired not only by soldiers, but by foreigners who paid to come here for the pleasure of shooting and killing people in the city. What we can say is that there were certainly civilians who shot at the people, at the population of Sarajevo, paying for this kind of activity. A complaint filed in Milan by Italian author and journalist Ezio Gavazzani claims wealthy Italians traveled to Bosnia and Herzegovina on so-called sniper safaris. I cannot give numbers here, but we're talking about quite a number of individuals. Witnesses describe how the so-called shooters from several countries made their way here. They flew from Trieste to Belgrade, transported by Yugoslav army helicopters to Pale, the wartime headquarters of Bosnian Serb forces, before being driven into the hills above Sarajevo. Different fees were reportedly charged depending on whether the victim was a man, a woman or a child. The people I saw were certainly not ordinary people. They were people in high positions, and from that side, they were also protected. Gavazzani says he revisited the case after watching a documentary co-produced by Al Jazeera that exposed claims of foreign involvement. Among the evidence is testimony from a former Bosnian military intelligence officer who documented earlier reports of so-called war safaris that came from a Serbian prisoner of war. Of course, there are documents about this. I remember at least three of them. One is the record of his interrogation, another is the record of the follow-up interrogation and the third is an analysis I prepared which explained the phenomenon of the war safari, a term mentioned for the first time on the Sarajevo battlefield. Bosnian authorities say they launched an investigation three years ago, but it appears to have sold. Three decades after the guns fell silent, Sarajevo is still demanding answers. Who came here to kill for pleasure? Who helped them? And why, after all this time, if this alleged crime was committed, is justice still waiting? Ardoana Pribinja, Al Jazeera, Sarajevo.

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