The Italian justice system has opened an investigation into allegations that foreign nationals traveled to Bosnia-Herzegovina during the war in the early 1990s to kill civilians under siege in Sarajevo.
Milan's public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into allegations that foreigners, linked to the far right and gun lovers, traveled on "human safaris" to the war-torn city in the 1990s to slaughter terrified Bosnians "for fun".
More than 11,000 people, including many children, were killed in this way during the siege of Sarajevo.
Wealthy foreigners from Italy, the USA, Russia and other countries are accused of paying Serbian forces to take part in the shooting spree during the Bosnian War. Sympathy for the Serbian cause, sheer bloodlust or a combination of both factors are the causes pointed out by investigators.
Serbia has denied accusations that tourists of various nationalities were allowed to shoot civilians at the command of the Bosnian Serb leader during the war, Radovan Kardazic. Karadzic was convicted of war crimes in 2016 and is serving time in a UK prison.
Price list for targeted killings
Following the filing of a complaint in Milan by Italian journalist Ezio Gavazzeni, who describes a "manhunt" by "very rich people" who "paid to be able to kill defenceless civilians" and went unpunished, the Italian authorities are trying to identify the Italians who were allegedly involved.
Gavazzeni claims that there were "at least a hundred" involved, with the Italians paying "a lot of money" to do so, up to 100,000 euros in today's terms, in statements to La Reppublica.
According to witnesses and Italian investigators, there was a price list for targeted killings, with a different fee charged for killing men, women or children. Allegedly, "war tourists" paid more to shoot children and armed men in uniform.
"There was a price for these murders: children cost more, then men, preferably uniformed and armed, women and finally the elderly, who could be killed for free," Gavazzeni told the Italian news agency Ansa.
Ezio Gavazzeni, who specializes in terrorism and the mafia, first read a report about sniper excursions to Sarajevo thirty years ago, when the Italian newspaper Corriere della Serra published the story, without providing any concrete evidence.
But it was after seeing the documentary "Sarajevo Safari" (2022), by Slovenian director Miran Zupanic, which alleges that those involved in the murders were from several countries, that the Italian journalist decided to start investigating in depth.
As a result of his investigation, Ezio Gavazzeni handed over his findings to the Italian courts in a 17-page file. Italian prosecutors are being assisted by a unit of the Italian police, Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale, which specializes in combating terrorism and organized crime.
The investigation reveals that Italian citizens were allegedly gathered in Trieste, in northeastern Italy, and transported to the hills around Sarajevo during the siege of the city between 1992 and 1996.
"They left Trieste for a manhunt. Then they returned home and continued their normal lives, they were respectable in the opinion of those who knew them," the journalist told La Reppublica.
The Bosnian War, which killed more than 11,000 people, was the longest in modern European history.
Originally published: November 13, 2025; 00:47 GMT+2,
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