Killing for pleasure Italy investigates rich "amateur snipers" in the Bosnian war
Italian "war tourists" are said to have paid money to shoot civilians as snipers during the Bosnian war. The gruesome scandal could now occupy the government of Giorga Meloni.
13.11.2025, 22:45
13.11.2025, 22:51
SDA
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- More than 30 years after the siege of Sarajevo, the Italian judiciary is investigating "weekend snipers".
- During the Bosnian war, rich people are said to have paid a lot of money to shoot civilians.
- An Italian writer filed a complaint: The investigation could now reveal the identities of the perpetrators.
The scandal surrounding alleged Italian "war tourists" who allegedly took part in the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s as snipers and paid to shoot civilians is causing a stir in Italy.
The opposition Five Star Movement has submitted a parliamentary request to the government to find out whether the documents on the "Sarajevo Safari" held in the archives of the Italian secret services can be made accessible. The case could soon concern the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Italy's former military intelligence service Sismi is said to have "discovered" just over 30 years ago that so-called "weekend snipers", including Italians, set off from Trieste on deadly "safari trips" to kill in the besieged Bosnian city of Sarajevo. Even women and children were targeted. The secret service is said to have succeeded in stopping the operation.
Italian writer filed a complaint
A former Bosnian secret service agent reported to the writer Ezio Gavazzeni that there may be documents containing the "identities" of these murderers, the so-called "tourist shooters". A few months ago, he had filed a complaint with the Milan public prosecutor's office, which led to the opening of an investigation into multiple murders committed for reprehensible and cruel motives.
The Bosnian services found out about the "hunting trips" at the end of 1993. They informed the military intelligence service Sismi at the beginning of 1994, and after three months they received the reply that the trips to Sarajevo had been stopped. The names of the "snipers" were not passed on by Sismi, reported Gavazzeni.
The testimonies and documents that now need to be examined are the focus of the investigation by Milan prosecutor Alessandro Gobbis. The documents relating to the case are classified as "Top Secret" in the Sarajevo military archives.
Even the former mayor of Sarajevo, Benjamina Karic, who is prepared to testify before the Milan public prosecutor's office, had tried unsuccessfully to gain access to the local judicial documents by submitting a request, reported Gavazzeni.
Wealthy people as "sniper tourists"
According to the complaint, the "sniper tourists" were wealthy individuals, some with right-wing political views and a passion for weapons. The trip was disguised as a hunting trip in order to bring the participants to Belgrade and the operational area inconspicuously.
The snipers traveled with a "Serbian airline" and were met in Belgrade by people who took them to the deployment site by helicopter. Both legal and illegal flows of money are said to have taken place - documentation of these transactions is likely to be held by the Italian services, Gavazzeni reported.
Italian investigators estimate that a "hunting trip" cost between 74,000 and 92,000 francs. Shooting at children was even more expensive.
The siege of Sarajevo is one of the bloodiest episodes of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which raged between 1992 and 1996. It cost the lives of around 11,000 people.
