Italian Man at Center of Bosnia’s Weekend Sniper Killings Probe
An 80-year-old Italian man, a former truck driver from the northeast Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, was questioned by prosecutors in Milan on Monday over allegations he acted as a “weekend sniper” during the brutal 1990s siege of Sarajevo. The suspect is being investigated for “voluntary homicide aggravated by abject motives,” according to Italian media reports.
The case sheds disturbing light on what Italian press have dubbed “war tourists”—wealthy gun enthusiasts, often with far-right sympathies, who allegedly traveled from Italy to the hills surrounding Sarajevo. There, they reportedly paid Bosnian Serb forces large sums—reportedly up to €100,000 per day—for the chance to shoot at civilians below.
A Chilling Past Revisited
During the nearly four-year siege that began in April 1992, Bosnian Serb forces killed 11,541 people and wounded more than 50,000. This new investigation suggests foreign individuals may have participated in the atrocities as a perverse form of sport.
The suspect, described in Italian newspapers as a hunting enthusiast with nostalgia for fascist-era Italy, is alleged to have boasted publicly about his actions. Journalist Marianna Maiorino, who researched the claims, stated that village residents reported hearing him tell stories at a local bar about his time in the Balkans. “According to the testimonies, he would tell his friends… about what he did during the war,” she said.
When approached by the local newspaper Messaggero Veneto on Sunday, the man admitted he had been in Bosnia during the conflict but insisted it was “for work, not for hunting.” He dismissed his earlier remarks as exaggeration and claimed he was “not worried” by the probe.
A Long Path to Justice
The Milan investigation opened last year following a complaint by Italian journalist Ezio Gavanezzi, which built upon allegations revealed in the 2022 Slovenian documentary “Sarajevo Safari.” The film brought renewed attention to claims that foreign snipers paid for the opportunity to target Sarajevo’s civilians.
The case has since gained international traction. The prosecutor’s office in Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed its own war crimes department is investigating the alleged foreign snipers. Bosnian authorities have requested information from Italy and contacted the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague—the successor to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
In a show of support, the Sarajevo City Council recently authorized Mayor Samir Avdic to join the Italian criminal proceedings, aiming to assist prosecutors in Milan.
A Symbolic Reckoning
While the suspect’s lawyer, Giovanni Menegon, told reporters his client “reaffirmed his complete innocence,” the questioning marks a significant step in a case that bridges borders and decades. It highlights the persistent pursuit of accountability for the horrors of the siege, and the possibility that some perpetrators lived for years in quiet anonymity.
For the survivors and families of Sarajevo, the investigation is a painful but necessary revisit to a time when their city was not just a battlefield, but a hunting ground. As legal proceedings continue in both Italy and Bosnia, the world is reminded that justice for war crimes knows no statute of limitations—and that some secrets, even those buried for thirty years, may yet come to light.
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