Prosecutors in Italy have launched an investigation into allegations that wealthy Italian tourists paid for “human safari” trips to shoot civilians during the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s.

The probe seeks to identify individuals who allegedly paid the Bosnian Serb army for the opportunity to fire on residents from the hills surrounding the war-torn city.

The siege of Sarajevo, which lasted from 1992 to 1996, is the longest in modern history. The city was subjected to relentless shelling and sniper fire, resulting in the deaths of more than 10,000 people, including many children. For those under siege, snipers were a constant and random terror, turning daily life into a gamble.

The new investigation, led by prosecutor Alessandro Gobbi, is pursuing charges of voluntary murder aggravated by cruelty and abject motives. It was initiated following a legal complaint filed by Milan-based writer Ezio Gavazzeni, who compiled evidence after being moved by the 2022 Slovenian documentary “Sarajevo Safari,” The Guardian reports.

In the documentary, a former Serb soldier claimed that groups of Westerners paid large sums to shoot at the civilian population. While Serbian war veterans have strongly denied these claims, the film prompted Gavazzeni to delve deeper.

“Sarajevo Safari was the starting point,” Mr. Gavazzeni said. “I began a correspondence with the director and from there expanded my investigation until I collected enough material to present to the Milan prosecutors.”

Mr. Gavazzeni alleges that these “sniper tourists” were not driven by ideology. “There were no political or religious motivations,” he said, the Guardian reported. “They were rich people who went there for fun and personal satisfaction. We are talking about people who love guns who perhaps go to shooting ranges or on safari in Africa.”

According to Mr. Gavazzeni’s findings, these trips were well-organized. He claimed the Italian suspects would travel from Trieste to Belgrade, where they would be met by Bosnian Serb soldiers and escorted to strategic positions in the mountains overlooking Sarajevo.

“There was a traffic of war tourists who went there to shoot people,” he said. “I call it an indifference towards evil.”

While not providing a specific figure, Mr. Gavazzeni claimed “many, many, many Italians” were allegedly involved, alongside other Western nationalities. “There were Germans, French, English … people from all western countries who paid large sums of money to be taken there to shoot civilians.”

Mr. Gavazzeni has reportedly identified several Italian individuals who are expected to be questioned by prosecutors in the coming weeks. His legal complaint was also supported by a report from Benjamina Karić, the former mayor of Sarajevo.

The Bosnian consul in Milan, Dag Dumrukcic, confirmed his government’s full cooperation. “We are eager to uncover the truth about such a cruel matter and settle accounts with the past,” he told Italian newspaper la Repubblica. “I am aware of some information that I will contribute to the investigation.”

During the four-year siege, Sarajevo’s main thoroughfare was infamously nicknamed “Sniper Alley” due to the extreme danger pedestrians and vehicles faced. The attacks were overseen by former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić and his military commander, Stanislav Galić, both of whom were later convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment.