The video will start in 8 Cancel

News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The war criminal former commander of Bosnian Croat forces died today after gulping back poison when he was told his appeal against his sentence had failed.

Slobodan Praljak, 72, tilted back his head and took a swing from a flask or glass as a war-crimes judge at The Hague read out the verdict.

Praljak - who was jailed for 20 years in 2013 for committing crimes against Bosnian Muslims - then told the judge: “I just drank poison. I am not a war criminal. I oppose this conviction.”

As Praljak sat back down and slumped in his chair the presiding judge Carmel Agius dramatically suspended the hearing and called for a doctor.

He also asked for the glass Praljak had drunk from to be kept.

(Image: REUTERS) (Image: index.hr Portal/Youtube) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: AFP)

An ambulance was at the building and paramedics dashed to the courtroom to give Pralkak emergency treatment.

A court guard said Praljak was still “being treated” more than hour afterwards but his condition rapidly deteriorated and he died in hospital.

Dutch authorities have launched an investigation into how Praljak obtained the poison he drank during a hearing.

The court said it would resume reading the verdict, which is also handling cases against five other defendants, including Milivoje Petkovic.

Praljak's was one of the final cases the United Nations Yugoslav tribunal will hear before it closes next month.

Agius continued proceedings in another room as Dutch authorities had cordoned off the court room as it 'is now a crime scene.'

(Image: AFP) (Image: REX/Shutterstock) (Image: REX/Shutterstock) (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

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 six former high-level politicians and defence officials were convicted in 2013 of participating in an “ethnic cleansing” campaign against Bosnian Muslims.

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 Babic was found dead in his locked cell in 2006.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock) (Image: Anadolu) (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

What Slobodan Praljak was convicted of

Praljak was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2013 for crimes he committed in and around Mostar, in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Praljak had been charged with ordering the destruction of Mostar’s 16th-century bridge in November 1993, which judges said “caused disproportionate damage to the Muslim civilian population”.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

The presiding judge had overturned some of Praljak’s convictions but left his sentence unchanged.

Praljak was a high soldier who commanded the Hague International Court of Appeal.

He was responsible for the war crimes against the Bosnian Muslims in about thirty places in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He was also in charge of the police force in the early 1990s.

Samaritans (116 123) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org .