At the International Criminal Court in The Hague, former Bosnian Croat military commander Slobodan Praljak died Wednesday after he drank a vial of poison inside the courtroom. Praljak, who’d been convicted to a 20-year prison term for his role in the Bosnian War of 1992-95, rose to his feet just moments after a judge upheld the sentence.
Slobodan Praljak: “Honorable judges, Slobodan Praljak is not a war criminal, and I accept your verdict with utter disgust.”
Presiding Judge Carmel Agius: “Stop, please. Please sit down.”
Praljak then tilted his head back as he drank from a glass bottle, telling the stunned courtroom moments later, “I just drank poison!” He later died at a nearby hospital. It’s not clear how the 72-year-old prisoner might have smuggled poison into the ICC’s courtrooms. In 2013, Praljak was found guilty of crimes against humanity, violations of the laws of war and of violating the Geneva Conventions.