A poisonous finale

Probe starts into how war criminal took his own life in court

DUTCH prosecutors were yesterday investigating how a Bosnian Croat war criminal managed to take his own life after apparently drinking poison he had smuggled into a UN court in The Hague.

In scenes broadcast live, Slobodan Praljak (pictured) drank from a small brown glass bottle and exclaimed he had taken poison moments after UN judges upheld his 20-year jail term for atrocities committed during the 1990s Balkans conflict.

The 72year-old died in hospital after being rushed from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Prosecutors said their investigation would focus on what killed Praljak and whether he had received any outside help in obtaining the suspected poison.

“For the time being, the inquiry will focus on assisted suicide and violation of the Medicines Act,” the Public Prosecution Service said.

The unprecedented drama came as judges handed down their very last verdict at the court in the appeal case of six Bosnian Croat political and military leaders.

Praljak, a former military commander of a breakaway Bosnian Croat statelet, shouted out angrily: “Praljak is not a criminal. I reject your verdict.”

Standing tall, he then raised a small brown bottle to his lips and tipped it into his mouth.

The hearing was quickly suspended as Praljak’s lawyer interjected: “My client says he has taken poison.”

ICTY spokesman Nenad Golcevski told reporters Praljak “quickly fell ill” and died in hospital. He could not confirm what was in the bottle.

The stunning events caused a shockwave in Croatia and intense embarrassment at a war crimes tribunal that closes next month, more than two decades after being set up.