Ex-Croatian military leader dead after drinking poison in court

[Khafee]

Ex-Croatian military leader dead after drinking poison at war crimes hearing
By Ed Adamczyk
Nov. 29, 2017

Bosnian Croat, Slobodan Praljak (R) enters the court in The Hague, Netherlands on Wednesday prior to the appeals judgement in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Photo by Van Lonkhuijsen/EPA

A series of four video stills show Slobodan Praljak drinking a substance in court Wednesday during an appeals judgement for war crimes he committed during the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Photo by EPA-EFE/ICTY

Nov. 29 (UPI) --
A former Croatian military and political leader died Wednesday after he drank a bottle of poison -- just moments after a conviction on war crimes was upheld in a Dutch courtroom.

Slobodan Praljak appeared in court Wednesday and lost his appeal of a 20-year conviction in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Moments after the verdict, he stood and said, "Prajlak is not a criminal. I reject your verdict."

Praljak, 72, then dramatically took a small brown bottle from his pocket and drank its contents.

Praljak's attorney then shouted, "My client has taken poison."
Court was suspended immediately. Curtains surrounding the courtroom were drawn and emergency medical personnel rushed in to treat the former leader.

Hrvatska Radiotelevizija, Croatia's state television, announced that Praljak later died in a hospital in The Hague.

Judges in Praljak's first trial convicted him of causing "disproportionate damage to the Muslim civilian population" in the city of East Mostar -- a city famous for its iconic 16th century bridge that was destroyed at Praljak's command.

Bosnian Croatians and Muslims were allied against Serbians in the war, but fought each other in 1993 and 1994. Praljak commanded Croatian forces known as the HVO.
Praljak was convicted of the war crimes with five other Croat politicians in 2013.

Video and OP:
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-...g-poison-at-war-crimes-hearing/7431511962939/

 

[Khafee]

Police investigating how war criminal Praljak got chemical into courtroom
By Sara Shayanian | Nov. 30, 2017

Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Dutch police have launched an investigation into the abrupt and shocking death of war criminal Slobodan Praljak, who swallowed a vial of poison after an international court upheld his conviction.

Praljak drank the liquid Wednesday during a hearing at the Yugoslavia tribunal in the Hague, in which the court upheld a war crimes conviction against the former Croatian military and political leader stemming from the Bosnian war in the 1990s. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The 72-year-old stood and drank the substance and said, "I just drank poison. I am not a war criminal. I oppose this conviction" after losing the appeal.

The criminal tribunal has now requested that police look into how the chemical substance was brought into the courtroom.
"There was a preliminary test of the substance in the container and all I can say for now is that there was a chemical substance in that container that can cause death," Dutch prosecutor Marilyn Fikenscher said.

Dutch forensic analysts will perform an autopsy on Praljak's body and toxicology research will shed light on the substance and exact cause of death.

Judges in Praljak's first trial in 2013 convicted him and five others of war crimes that they said caused "disproportionate damage to the Muslim civilian population."

Although Bosnian Croatians and Muslims were allied against Serbians in the war, they fought each other in 1993 and 1994 when Praljak commanded Croatian forces known as the HVO.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-...-chemical-into-courtroom/8721512047710/?nll=1

 

[Scorpion]

I saw the video and I was shocked. The man was hard hearted, chucked it down the throat like a water. Was not he taken into custody upon arrest? How did he managed to get his hands on the poison! What did the result of the autopsy say? Was it really a poison. I suppose since the man fell down right away. Crazy.....