War crimes defendant drinks ‘poison’ following guilty verdict
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ICTA defendant at a UN war crimes appeal hearing in The Hague drank a vial of what he claimed was poison after hearing the verdict against him.
Slobodan Praljak, one of six former Bosnian Croat leaders being tried for war crimes, was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment.
Upon hearing that his verdict had been upheld he drank a liquid before telling the judge, “I have taken poison”.
Presiding judge Carmel Agius suspended proceedings immediately while staff called an ambulance.
“Okay,” the judge said. “We suspend the… We suspend… Please, the curtains. Don’t take away the glass that he used when he drank something.”
Natasa Faveau-Ivanovic, Mr Praljak’s lawyer, was quoted by Reuters as saying: “My client says he drank poison this morning.”
Last week the tribunal convicted Bosnian Serb military leader General Ratko Mladić of genocide. It was established in 1993 while fighting was ongoing in the former Yugoslavia and has indicted 161 suspects so far, convicting 90 of them.
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