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War criminal 'drinks poison' in court as 20-year sentence is upheld
By Stephanie van den Berg
The Hague: A wartime commander of Bosnian Croat forces died on Wednesday when he drank poison seconds after United Nations appeals judges upheld his 20-year sentence for war crimes against Bosnian Muslims.
Slobodan Praljak, 72, tilted back his head and took a swing from a glass bottle as a judge read out a verdict in his case for crimes committed in the city of Mostar during the Bosnian war in 1992-95.
"Slobodan Praljak is not a war criminal, I am rejecting the court ruling," he said as he put the flask to his lips.
"Stop please, sit down please," the judge said.
Slobodan Praljak brings a bottle of poison to his lips during a Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague.Credit: ICTY/AP
"I have taken poison," Praljak said.
Commotion ensued as staff ran to treat Praljak and the presiding judge suspended the court and ordered curtains to be drawn.
Praljak sat back down and slumped in his chair, a lawyer who was in the courtroom at the time said.
An ambulance was at the building and paramedics went to the courtroom.
Bosnian Croat people, gather to light candles and pray for Slobodan Praljak, in southern Bosnian town of Mostar south of Sarajevo, on Wednesday.Credit: AP
A court guard said Praljak was still "being treated" more than hour after he said he drank poison.
Croatian General Marinko Kresic told Croatian state TV he had spoken to the wife of another defendant, Milivoje Petkovic, who was in The Hague. "She confirmed that he drank the poison and that he is in a very grave health condition," he said.
Jadranko Prlic, second left, Bruno Stojic, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petkovic and Valentin Coric at the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands on Wednesday.Credit: AP
Multiple media outlets, including Croatian state television, later reported that Praljak had died in hospital.
The court initially said it would resume reading the verdict, which is also handling cases against five other defendants, including Milivoje Petkovic. However the room was later sealed off as a crime scene.
The dramatic events came in the final minutes of the court's last verdict before closing down. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), established by the United Nations in 1993, shuts its doors next month when its mandate expires.
The court's lead suspect, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, died of a heart attack in March 2006 months before a ruling in his genocide case.
Two defendants awaiting trial took their own lives by hanging themselves in their UN cells, according to court documents. Slavko Dokmanovic died in 1998 and Milan Babic was found dead in his locked cell in 2006.
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Reuters, Fairfax Media