\n In a stunning drama at a UN war crimes court Wednesday, a former Bosnian Croat military leader appeared to drink poison seconds after judges upheld his 20-year sentence.\n<\/p>\n
\n At his appeal judgement at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Slobodan Praljak, 72, shouted out angrily: \"Praljak is not a criminal. I reject your verdict.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n He then raised a small brown bottle to his lips, and drank it down in full view of the cameras filming the hearing.\n<\/p>\n
\n The unprecedented scenes happened just after the judges in their final judgement also upheld a 25-year prison term against Jadranko Prlic, the former prime minister of a breakaway Bosnian Croat statelet during the 1990s Balkans wars.\n<\/p>\n
\n But the hearing was quickly suspended as Praljak's lawyer shouted out: \"My client says he has taken poison.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n As court officials surrounded Praljak, presiding judge Carmel Agius immediately ordered the proceedings suspended and the curtains surrounding the courtroom were closed.\n<\/p>\n
\n Within minutes AFP journalists saw an ambulance arrive outside the tribunal in The Hague, while a helicopter hovered overhead.\n<\/p>\n
\n Several emergency rescue workers also rushed into the building carrying equipment in backpacks. Court officials called for calm.\n<\/p>\n
\n Praljak was specifically charged with ordering the destruction of Mostar's 16th-century bridge in November 1993, which judges in the first trial had said \"caused disproportionate damage to the Muslim civilian population\".\n<\/p>\n
\n A symbol of Bosnia's devastation in the war, the Ottoman-era bridge was later rebuilt. But the city saw the worst of the Croat-Muslim clashes, with nearly 80 percent of the city's east destroyed in the fighting.\n<\/p>\n
\n But in their ruling, the judges in fact allowed part of Praljak's appeal, saying the bridge had been a legitimate military target during the conflict.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It's just an old bridge,\" Praljak said in 1993, showing no regard for the emotional effect the destruction had on ordinary Bosnians of all ethnic backgrounds.\n<\/p>\n
\n Bosnian Croats and Muslims were allies against the Serbs but fought each other for 11 months from 1993-1994. Praljak commanded Bosnian Croat forces known as the HVO from July to November 1993.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a stunning drama at a UN war crimes court Wednesday, a former Bosnian Croat military leader appeared to drink poison seconds after judges upheld his 20-year sentence. At his appeal judgement at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Slobodan Praljak, 72, shouted out angrily: \"Praljak is not a criminal. I reject your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-35512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n