The Hague - A wartime commander of Bosnian
Croat forces said on Wednesday he "drank poison" seconds after
UN appeals judges upheld his 20-year sentence for war crimes
against Bosnian Muslims.
Slobodan Praljak, 72, tilted back his head and took a swing
from a flask or glass as the judge read out the verdict.
"I just drank poison," he said. "I am not a war criminal. I
oppose this conviction."
Praljak sat back down and slumped in his chair, a lawyer who
was in the courtroom at the time said.
The presiding judge suspended the hearing and called for a
doctor. An ambulance was at the building and paramedics went to
the courtroom.
A court guard said Praljak was still "being treated" more
than hour after he said he drank poison.
Croatian General Marinko Kresic told Croatian state TV he
had spoken to the wife of another defendant, General Miroslav
Praljak, who was in The Hague. "She confirmed that he drank the
poison and that he is in a very grave health condition," he
said.
The court said it would resume reading the verdict, which is
also handling cases against five other defendants, including
Miroslav Praljak.
The dramatic events came in the final minutes of the court's
last verdict before closing down. The International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), established by the
United Nations in 1993, shuts its doors next month when its
mandate expires.
The court's lead suspect, former Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic, died of a heart attack in March 2006 months before a
ruling in his genocide case.
Two defendants awaiting trial committed suicide by hanging
themselves in their U.N. cells, according to court documents.
Slavko Dogmanovic died in 1998 and Milan Babić was found dead
in his locked cell in 2006.