Overview
- Italian prosecutors, led by Alessandro Gobbi, have launched an investigation based on a 17-page complaint compiled by writer Ezio Gavazzeni with support from former magistrate Guido Salvini and ex-Sarajevo mayor Benjamina Karić.
- Investigators are examining allegations that wealthy foreigners paid Bosnian Serb forces to be escorted to hilltop positions to shoot civilians, with reported fees of €80,000–€100,000 and higher prices for targeting children.
- The probe is working to identify potential Italian suspects and could bring counts of voluntary murder aggravated by cruelty and abject motives, with specialist Carabinieri ROS officers assisting.
- Leads include testimony from a former Bosnian intelligence officer, references to 1993 warnings and possible SISMI records, and claims that trips were routed via Trieste to Belgrade before access to positions around Sarajevo.
- Bosnia’s consul in Milan pledged full cooperation after earlier Bosnian inquiries were shelved, while Bosnian Serb veterans’ groups denounced the allegations and continue to dispute the accounts.