Italian prosecutors investigating allegations of “sniper tourism” in Sarajevo in the 1990s currently do not have enough evidence to request a trial of any suspect, sources close to the investigation said.
As reported by the British agency Reuters, Milan prosecutors put five people under investigation for allegations that Italians and other foreigners paid to shoot civilians during the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995.
The investigation was launched last year after the journalist and novelist Ezio Gavazzeni filed a complaint about claims that rich foreigners traveled to Bosnia and Herzegovina to participate in the so-called “shooting excursions” during the war.
Among the suspects, according to the source, is a Milanese aristocrat who allegedly boasted that he was in Sarajevo and participated in shooting civilians.
Prosecutors currently without solid evidence
Sources state that the prosecutors currently only have circumstantial evidence and that there is not enough solid evidence to file charges.
“Honestly speaking, at this moment the prosecutors could not ask for any of the suspects to be brought before the court,” said the unnamed source.
Milan prosecutor Alessandro Gobbis and chief prosecutor Marcello Viola are scheduled to meet in Luxembourg on July 29 with Belgian and Bosnian prosecutors within Eurojust to discuss the case.
“There is hope that the meeting with foreign colleagues and the continuation of the investigation will bring additional elements,” said the source.
Searches and findings of the investigation so far
In recent days, the carabinieri searched the house of one of the suspects, a 66-year-old former municipal official from Genoa.
During the investigation, a silencer and a photo of a precision rifle were seized, but a special investigation into the alleged network in Milan that organized “sniper tours” has so far yielded no results.
During the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995, around 11,000 civilians were killed as a result of shelling and sniper fire from the positions of the Republika Srpska army on the hills around the city.
The Italian investigation was launched after a report on allegations that foreign nationals were paid to participate in shooting civilians during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
