Slobodan Praljak dead after downing vial of poison on video in war crime court | London Evening Standard

Slobodan Praljak dead after downing vial of poison on video in war crime courtFormer Bosnian Croat politician drinks poison after hearing 20-year jail sentence upheld

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A former Bosnian Croat politician who downed poison at a war crimes hearing has died, according to Croatian state TV.

Slobodan Praljak produced a small vial of liquid which he gulped down in front of the court after a judge upheld a 20-year-jail sentence he had been given.

After learning the verdict the 72-year-old drank from the small bottle and yelled "I am not a war criminal, I oppose this conviction."

His lawyer, Natasa Faveau-Ivanovic, later said: "My client says he drank poison this morning."

Slobodan Praljak swallowing a vial of poisonAFP/Getty Images

Croatian TV said Praljak died this afternoon after his appearance at the court in The Hague.

A video grab taken from live footage of the International Criminal Court shows Croatian former general Slobodan Praljak swallowing what is believed to be poisonAFP/Getty Images

Questions will be raised over how he managed to smuggle the substance into the hearing.

After he took the poison, the presiding judge suspended the hearing and called for a doctor.

Dutch emergency services, police, a fire truck and an ambulance were parked outside the UN hearing, and what appeared to be firefighters, some of them wearing oxygen tanks, entered the court.

Croatian former general Slobodan Praljak is believed to have died after sawllowing poisonAFP/Getty Images

Pralijak was one of six former Bosnian Croat political and military leaders appearing at the court.

He was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment in 2013 for crimes in East Mostar.

The six leaders had appealed against their convictions for involvement in crimes as Croat forces attempted to carve out a Croat ministate in Bosnia by driving Muslims from towns and villages during the 1992-95 war.

Dutch police refused to comment on a TV report based on "sources close to General Praljak".

Nenad Golcevski, spokesman for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, told the Associated Press: "I have no information to share at this point."

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