Italy probes suspect in Sarajevo ‘sniper tourism’ during Bosnia war: Report

Report says an 80-year-old suspect faces charges on several counts, including premeditated murder.Published On 5 Feb 2026Prosecutors in Italy have placed a man under investigation as part of a probe into alleged “sniper tourism” in Sarajevo during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia, the Reuters news agency reports.Sources told Reuters on Wednesday that the man, the first individual to be identified in the inquiry that began last year, is an 80-year-old former truck driver who lives near the northern Italian town of Pordenone.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3UN court denies Mladic, who led Bosnia’s Srebrenica genocide, early releaselist 2 of 3Sabina Tanovic: How architecture shapes memory and justicelist 3 of 3‘A true hell’: How three Srebrenica survivors defied death 30 years agoend of listItalian prosecutors launched an investigation last year, after it was alleged that foreigners, including nationals from Italy, had travelled to Bosnia and paid large amounts of money to shoot at civilians during the siege of Sarajevo three decades ago.The grotesque scheme has been referred to as “sniper safaris” in reference to expeditions to hunt animals in the wild, mostly in Africa.Reuters reported on Wednesday that the elderly suspect, who was not named, faces charges of several counts of premeditated murder, according to sources who spoke to the news agency.The sources did not tell Reuters whether the man is suspected of directly carrying out killings or of helping with transport and logistics for clients. The man, who remains free, has been summoned by prosecutors for questioning on February 9, the sources added.An estimated 11,000 civilians were killed by shelling and sniper fire from Bosnian Serb army positions on hills around Sarajevo city during the 1992-95 war that followed Bosnia’s declaration of independence from Yugoslavia.‘Tourist shooters’Milan prosecutors opened their investigation into the killing of civilians in the so-called sniper scheme after local journalist and novelist Ezio Gavazzeni filed a legal complaint over allegations that Italians and other foreigners had paid members of Bosnian Serb forces to let them take part in the shooting of people in Sarajevo.