According to the Italian press, a former truck driver from the Friuli-Venezia region Giulia was an avid hunter, owned several firearms and was nostalgic for fascism.
An 80 year old Italian, suspected of paying Bosnian soldiers for shooting civilians during the siege of Sarajevo (1992-1996), was interrogated this Monday (9) in Milan, according to press reports.
This former truck driver from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in northeastern Italy, was accused by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office of “continuous and aggravated intentional homicidemotivated by despicable reasons”, according to the Italian news agency Ansa.
“My client answered all the questions and reaffirmed his innocence,” declared his lawyer, Giovanni Menegon, after the interrogation. The Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation in October into the alleged travels of these “war tourists”, also known as “weekend snipers”, among whom were several Italians.
They were, for the most part, far-right sympathizers, gun enthusiasts and wealthy individuals who would have traveled to the hills around Sarajevo during the Bosnian War, .
According to the Italian press, the man interrogated in Milan was an avid hunter, owned several firearms and was nostalgic for fascism. He also allegedly bragged publicly about having traveled to Bosnia to “hunt people.”
“According to the statements collected, he told his friends in the neighborhood bar what he had done during the war in the Balkans,” independent journalist Marianna Maiorino, who investigated the case and was also questioned as part of the Italian investigation, explained to AFP.
“I’m not worried, it’s just one of the many things, big or small, that have marked my life. I’ve experienced many,” the suspect told Messaggero Veneto newspaper on Sunday.
The preliminary investigation began at the end of last year following a complaint filed by Italian journalist and writer Ezio Gavanezzi, based on two testimonies included in a documentary.
During the siege of Sarajevo (1992-1996), the longest in the history of modern warfare, more than 11,500 people died in the city, including hundreds of children, according to official Bosnian data.
*With information from AFP
