ROME: Prosecutors in Italy are investigating possible Italian snipers who may have paid the Bosnian Serb army during the 1990s siege of Sarajevo to be allowed to shoot civilians for sport, local media reported.
According to La Repubblica daily, the investigation opened by Milan prosecutor Alessandro Gobbis for voluntary manslaughter seeks to identify Italians who between 1993 and 1995 may have “paid to play war and kill defenseless civilians ‘for fun.’“
The newspaper said the unidentified suspects it dubbed “war tourists” were mostly wealthy and gun-loving right-wing sympathizers, who departed from Trieste, in northern Italy, before being taken to the hills surrounding Sarajevo.
There, the would-be snipers paid up to the equivalent of 100,000 euros per day to the Bosnian Serb forces to shoot at civilians below them, according to the daily Il Giornale, the first newspaper to report, in July, that an investigation in Italy had been opened.
The investigation follows a complaint filed by Italian journalist and writer Ezio Gavanezzi, who was contacted in August 2025 by the former mayor of Sarajevo, Benjamina Karic.
She had filed her own complaint in Bosnia in 2022 after the broadcast of the documentary “Sarajevo Safari” by Slovenian director Miran Zupanic, which revealed the crimes.
In an interview with La Repubblica, Gavanezzi estimated there were at least 100 Italians who participated, with Il Giornale citing at least double that — on top of foreigners from other countries.
On social media Tuesday, Karic said she welcomed the Italian investigation.
In her 2022 complaint, a copy of which she posted on social media, Karic said the documentary, along with witness statements, point to “reasonable suspicion” that members of the Bosnian Serb army “organized ‘excursions’ for wealthy foreigners.”
They “had the opportunity to fire precision rifles from (army) positions above the city of Sarajevo, killing and wounding innocent civilians in the besieged city, including children,” according to her complaint.
During the nearly four-year siege of Sarajevo that began in April 1992 — the longest in the history of modern warfare — some 11,541 men, women, and children were killed and more than 50,000 people wounded by Bosnian Serb forces, according to official figures.
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Italy probes if ‘war tourists’ paid to shoot civilians in Sarajevo siege
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Italy probes if ‘war tourists’ paid to shoot civilians in Sarajevo siege
- The newspaper said the unidentified suspects it dubbed “war tourists” were mostly wealthy and gun-loving right-wing sympathizers
- The investigation follows a complaint filed by Italian journalist and writer Ezio Gavanezzi
Venezuela swears in 5,600 troops after US military build-up
CARACAS: The Venezuelan army swore in 5,600 soldiers on Saturday, as the United States cranks up military pressure on the oil-producing country.
President Nicolas Maduro has called for stepped-up military recruitment after the United States deployed a fleet of warships and the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
American forces have carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 vessels, killing at least 87.
Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns,” which it declared a terrorist organization last month.
Maduro asserts the American deployment aims to overthrow him and seize the country’s oil reserves.
“Under no circumstances will we allow an invasion by an imperialist force,” Col. Gabriel Rendon said Saturday during a ceremony at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, in Caracas.
According to official figures, Venezuela has around 200,000 troops and an additional 200,000 police officers.
A former opposition governor died in prison on Saturday where he had been detained on charges of terrorism and incitement, a rights group said.
Alfredo Diaz was at least the sixth opposition member to die in prison since November 2024.
They had been arrested following protests sparked by last July’s disputed election, when Maduro claimed a third term despite accusations of fraud.
The protests resulted in 28 deaths and around 2,400 arrests, with nearly 2,000 people released since then.
Diaz, governor of Nueva Esparta from 2017 to 2021, “had been imprisoned and held in isolation for a year; only one visit from his daughter was allowed,” said Alfredo Romero, director of the NGO Foro Penal, which defends political prisoners.
The group says there are at least 887 political prisoners in Venezuela.
Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado condemned the deaths of political prisoners in Venezuela during “post-electoral repression.”
“The circumstances of these deaths — which include denial of medical care, inhumane conditions, isolation, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment — reveal a sustained pattern of state repression,” Machado said in a joint statement with Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the opposition candidate she believes won the election.
President Nicolas Maduro has called for stepped-up military recruitment after the United States deployed a fleet of warships and the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
American forces have carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 vessels, killing at least 87.
Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns,” which it declared a terrorist organization last month.
Maduro asserts the American deployment aims to overthrow him and seize the country’s oil reserves.
“Under no circumstances will we allow an invasion by an imperialist force,” Col. Gabriel Rendon said Saturday during a ceremony at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, in Caracas.
According to official figures, Venezuela has around 200,000 troops and an additional 200,000 police officers.
A former opposition governor died in prison on Saturday where he had been detained on charges of terrorism and incitement, a rights group said.
Alfredo Diaz was at least the sixth opposition member to die in prison since November 2024.
They had been arrested following protests sparked by last July’s disputed election, when Maduro claimed a third term despite accusations of fraud.
The protests resulted in 28 deaths and around 2,400 arrests, with nearly 2,000 people released since then.
Diaz, governor of Nueva Esparta from 2017 to 2021, “had been imprisoned and held in isolation for a year; only one visit from his daughter was allowed,” said Alfredo Romero, director of the NGO Foro Penal, which defends political prisoners.
The group says there are at least 887 political prisoners in Venezuela.
Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado condemned the deaths of political prisoners in Venezuela during “post-electoral repression.”
“The circumstances of these deaths — which include denial of medical care, inhumane conditions, isolation, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment — reveal a sustained pattern of state repression,” Machado said in a joint statement with Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the opposition candidate she believes won the election.
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