Bosnian Croat war criminal dies after drinking ‘poison’ in dock
● Accused yells ‘I am not a war criminal’ before emptying bottle
A former bosnian croat general died in a Dutch hospital yesterday shortly after drinking a liquid in a courtroom where judges had just confirmed his 20-year sentence for war crimes.
Slobodan Praljak, 72, claimed to have drunk poison from a bottle shortly after appeal judges confirmed his jail term for involvement in a campaign to drive Muslims out of a would-be Bosnian Croat ministate in Bosnia in the early 1990s.
In a stunning end to the final case at the UN’S International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Praljak yelled “I am not a war criminal!” and appeared to drink from the bottle.
Nenad Golcevski, a spokesman for the tribunal, said Praljak died despite efforts to save him. Mr Golcevski said: “Mr Praljak drank a liquid while in court and quickly fell ill. The ICTY medical staff immediately assisted Mr Praljak.
“Simultaneously, an ambulance was summoned. Mr Praljak was transported to a nearby hospital to receive further medical assistance, where he passed.”
The courtroom where the dramatic scene unfolded was sealed off and Presiding Judge Carmel Agius said that it was now a “crime scene” so that Dutch police could investigate.
Dutch police, an ambulance and a fire truck quickly arrived outside the court’s headquarters and emergency service workers, some of them wearing helmets and with oxygen tanks on their backs, went into the court shortly after the incident. An ambulance later left the building, but it could not be confirmed if Praljak was inside.
Croatian state TV reported that President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic decided to cut short an official visit to Iceland and the government was holding an emergency session.
Praljak, 72, had been in the tribunal’s custody ahead of the hearing and it was not clear how he could have got access to poison or how he apparently managed to smuggle it into the tightly guarded courtroom.
Mr Agius had overturned some of Praljak’s convictions but upheld others and left his sentence unchanged.
Praljak, standing to listen to the judgment, then produced the bottle, threw back his head and seemed to pour something into his mouth. Mr Agius shut down the hearing and cleared the courtroom.
Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenkovic said: “We have all unfortunately witnessed his act by which he took his own life.”
Mr Plenkovic said Praljak’s action reflects the “deep moral injustice” done to six Bosnian Croats whose guilty verdicts were upheld by the UN’S war crimes court in the Hague.
Yesterday’s hearing later resumed and, ultimately, all six Croats charged in the case had their sentences, rang- ing from 25 to ten years, confirmed. Judges overturned some of their 2013 convictions, but left many unchanged.
The other suspects showed no emotion as Mr Agius reconfirmed their sentences for their involvement in a campaign to drive Muslims out of a would-be Bosnian Croat ministate in Bosnia in the early 1990s.
Yesterday’s hearing was the final case at the groundbreaking tribunal before it closes its doors next month.
The tribunal, which last week convicted former Bosnian Serb military chief General Ratko Mladic of genocide and other crimes, was set up in 1993, while fighting still raged in the former Yugoslavia. It indicted 161 suspects and convicted 90 of them.
The appeals judges upheld a key finding that late Croat President Franjo Tudjman was a member of a plan to create a Croat mini-state in Bosnia, but that finding, which angered Croat leaders, was largely overshadowed by Praljak.
The original trial began in April 2006.