Watch: The dramatic moment when a war criminal swallowed poison during his trial in a UN Court
Slobodan Praljak rejected his 20-year jail sentence ‘with disdain’, before he committed suicide.
The video (above) shows former Bosnian Croat Army general Slobodan Praljak consuming poison after he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
In a rather dramatic move, he said: “Judges, Slobodan Praljak is not a war criminal. With disdain, I reject this verdict.” He then drank some liquid from a small vial.
“What I drank was poison,” he declared and a flurry of activity followed, with several members of the jury leaving their seats, presumably to get help. Theodor Meron, the President of the Tribunal, then suspended the trial.
A statement issued by the ICTY said that he was transported to a nearby hospital to receive further medical assistance where he died.
Praljak was convicted of ordering the destruction of a 16th century bridge in the Bosnian municipality of Mostar in November 1993, which judges in 2013 had said “caused disproportionate damage to the Muslim civilian population”, The Guardian reported.
