A UN tribunal said Friday it will launch an inquiry into the death of a Bosnian Croat war criminal, after he appeared to drink poison in front of judges as they upheld his sentence.
The internal probe will seek to shed light on how he managed to bypass tight security to smuggle toxic liquid into the courtroom and commit suicide on Wednesday.
The probe, which will open next week, will complement the ongoing Dutch investigation into the suicide of Slobodan Praljak at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the court said.
The tribunal's registrar Friday "initiated an independent expert review focusing on the ICTY internal operations, in accordance with standard procedures," the international court said in a statement.
Praljak, 72, died in hospital shortly after drinking from a small brown glass bottle in the courtroom, with his lawyer claiming it was poison.
His final act of defiance, which was broadcast live around the world, came just moments after judges rejected his appeal, upholding his 20-year jail term for atrocities committed in a breakaway Bosnian Croat statelet during the 1990s wars.
Dutch prosecutor Marilyn Fikenscher told AFP initial tests showed the bottle contained "a chemical substance which can cause death". An autopsy and toxicology tests are due to be carried out as soon as possible.
The shocking images drew the curtain on two decades of work at the court, set up in 1993 to try those responsible for the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II.
But it remains a mystery what the former theatre and movie director, known for his forcible courtroom presence and outbursts, drank and how he managed to get it past the tight security at the tribunal.
"Was the poison already in the prison, or in the courtroom? They need answers to all these questions, because obviously it raises suspicion about possible 'complicity' in quote marks by prison staff," said international lawyer Celine Bardet, an expert in war crimes issues.
- 'Couldn't live with it' -
Investigators must also focus on security inside the court building to "uncover its weaknesses," Bardet added.
Praljak's lawyer Nika Pinter said she had no idea what her client was about to do.
"Nobody killed him, it was suicide. I am sad but I understand and respect what he did," she told Croatia's HINA news agency Thursday on board a flight from Amsterdam to Zagreb.
"I never thought he could do such a thing, but I understand because he is a man of honour who couldn't live with a conviction for war crimes and being led out of the courtroom in handcuffs."
- Assisted suicide? -
Dutch prosecutors have said their probe will focus on "assisted suicide and violation of the Medicines Act".
The UN court probe, which will assess "relevant existing procedures as well as make any recommendations which may assist other courts in the future," the statement said.
It will be led by justice Hassan B. Jallow, chief justice of The Gambia and former prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and will aim to issue a report by the time the court closes on December 31. It will be made public, subject to any issues about confidentiality.
Everyone entering the UN detention centre is subjected to security checks "irrespective of his or her status, nationality, function or age," according to the prison rules.
And everyone must pass through scanners. Every item brought to the centre or sent by mail is also inspected, or opened or X-rayed.
