A former Bosnian Croat general has died after apparently swallowing poison as a judge at the Hague upheld his 20-year sentence for war crimes.
Footage from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) showed 72-year-old Slobodan Praljak tilt his head back and drink from a small glass bottle as the presiding judge read out the verdict.
"Slobodan Praljak is not a war criminal. I am rejecting your verdict with contempt," Praljak shouted before swallowing the liquid.
The judge was then heard immediately suspending proceedings and asking for the curtains to be drawn. An ambulance was at the building shortly and paramedics raced up to the courtroom, Reuters reported.
The courtroom was being treated as a crime scene, an ICTY spokesperson told CNN.
Crotian Former General Slobodan Praljak drinking a small bottle of liquid during a Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague on November 29.
Croatia's Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, later confirmed the former general had died and offered his condolences.
"On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and on my own behalf, I want to express my deepest condolences to the family of General Slobodan Praljak," Plenkovic said, according to a tweet from an official government account.
The nature of the substance ingested by Praljak was not immediately clear.
Praljak, a former assistant defense minister of Croatia and commander of the Croatian Defense Council, was appealing a jail term of 20 years in prison.
Continue Reading: Slobodan Praljak, Bosnian war criminal dies after swallowing poison in court
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