War Criminal Convicted in Yugoslavia Court Drank Poison and Died

Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague halted the appeal hearing related to six former Bosnian Croat officials after one of the defendants brought a bottle to his mouth and shouted, "I have consumed poison." The Croatian state television reported that the convict named Slobodan Praljak is dead. However, Dutch police have yet to comment on the matter. A court officer stated that after the session was halted, Slobodan Praljak was alive and "under medical care." It appears that after the confirmation of a 20-year prison sentence for Slobodan Praljak, a former commander of the Bosnian Croat forces during the Yugoslav civil war, he ingested the contents of a bottle. He shouted, "Slobodan Praljak is not a war criminal. I reject this verdict." The judge quickly suspended the hearing. Outside the courthouse, police forces, an ambulance, and a fire truck were visible. Emergency personnel entered the courthouse, and a helicopter was patrolling the area. The judge handling the appeals for these six individuals annulled some of Slobodan Praljak's crimes but upheld his 20-year prison sentence. Praljak, who was tried and convicted in 2013, was one of six political and military leaders of the Bosnian Croats whose appeals were being reviewed. One of his crimes was ordering the destruction of the old Mostar bridge in November 1993, which the initial trial judge described as "causing severe harm to civilians." The destruction of this bridge, dating back to the Ottoman era in the 15th century, became one of the significant symbols of the war's devastation. The bridge was later rebuilt, but Mostar was the scene of the fiercest battles between Bosnian Muslims and Croats, with nearly 80% of the city destroyed during the war. In the appeal hearing on Wednesday, the judges accepted part of Slobodan Praljak's appeal and acknowledged that the bridge was a legitimate military target during the war. They annulled some of his convictions but did not reduce his 20-year prison sentence. Another convict in this court was Jadranko Prlic, the leader of the Bosnian Croats, who appealed against his 25-year prison sentence issued by the initial court. Four other convicts were also senior officials of the Bosnian Croats during the war, sentenced to long prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years. Before the session was halted, the judges confirmed the 25-year sentence for Jadranko Prlic. He was convicted of participating in a criminal conspiracy during the rule of Franjo Tudjman, aiming to create a racially pure state. Despite the Croatian government's objections and their request to annul this sentence, the appeals court upheld Mr. Prlic's conviction. Croatian state television reported that following today's events in The Hague, the President of Croatia canceled his trip to Iceland, and the government is set to hold an emergency meeting. Miroslav, the son of the late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, considered Slobodan Praljak's action in court as "a result of his moral stance in rejecting a verdict that has no connection to reality or justice." A week ago, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia sentenced Ratko Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb forces, to life imprisonment. This marks the end of two decades of the tribunal's activity, which was established in 1993 at the height of the Yugoslav civil war to address the most severe war crimes in Europe since World War II.