Warcriminal kills self in live UNcourt drama
THE HAGUE— In shocking live scenes on Wednesday, a Bosnian Croat war criminal took his own life in front of United Nations war crimes judges, apparently drinking poison just after they upheld his 20-year jail term for atrocities committed during the 1990s Balkan wars.
Slobodan Praljak, 72, died in hospital after drinking from a small brown glass bottle in full glare of the cameras at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) , officials 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.
‘I reject your verdict’
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, with a shock of white hair and beard, he then raised a small 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.”
Shock wave in Croatia
The stunning events caused a shock wave in Croatia, and cast a cloud over what should have been a successful end to the UN court, which closes next month, more than two decades after being set up at the height of the 1992-1995 Bosnian conflict.
As emergency crews rushed to the tribunal, efforts were made to give him medical treatment and he was transported to the hospital where he died.
Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic slammed the “injustice” of the UN tribunal and expressed his condolences.
It is not the first time that defendants have killed themselves at the ICTY. Former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic took his life in his cell at the UN detention center in 2006, after another Croatian Serb, Slavko Dokmanovic, in 1998.—