A former Bosnian Croat politician who downed poison at a war crimes hearing has died, according to Croatian state TV.
Slobodan Praljak produced a small vial of liquid which he gulped down in front of the court after a judge upheld a 20-year-jail sentence he had been given.
After learning the verdict the 72-year-old drank from the small bottle and yelled I am not a war criminal, I oppose this conviction.
Croatian former general Slobodan Praljak stands prior to the start of his appeal judgement at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. His lawyer, Natasa Faveau-Ivanovic, later said: My client says he drank poison this morning.
Croatian TV said Praljak died this afternoon after his appearance at the court in The Hague.
Questions will be raised over how he managed to smuggle the substance into the hearing.
After he took the poison, the presiding judge suspended the hearing and called for a doctor.
Dutch emergency services, police, a fire truck and an ambulance were parked outside the UN hearing, and what appeared to be firefighters, some of them wearing oxygen tanks, entered the court.
Pralijak was one of six former Bosnian Croat political and military leaders appearing at the court.
Croatian former general Slobodan Praljak is believed to have died after sawllowing poison He was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment in 2013 for crimes in East Mostar.
The six leaders had appealed against their convictions for involvement in crimes as Croat forces attempted to carve out a Croat ministate in Bosnia by driving Muslims from towns and villages during the 1992-95 war.
Dutch police refused to comment on a TV report based on sources close to General Praljak.
Nenad Golcevski, spokesman for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, told the Associated Press: I have no information to share at this point.