Prosecutors say war criminal poisoned himself at court with potassium cyanide

Slobodan Praljak died from heart failure after swallowing poison in front of UN judges who upheld his 20-year prison term

By AFP 2 December 2017, 12:38 am Edit
In this photo provided by the ICTY on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, Slobodan Praljak brings a bottle to his lips, during a Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. Praljak yelled, "I am not a war criminal!" and appeared to drink from a small bottle, seconds after judges reconfirmed his 20-year prison sentence for involvement in a campaign to drive Muslims out of a would-be Bosnian Croat ministate in Bosnia in the early 1990s. (ICTY via AP)
In this photo provided by the ICTY on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, Slobodan Praljak brings a bottle to his lips, during a Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. Praljak yelled, "I am not a war criminal!" and appeared to drink from a small bottle, seconds after judges reconfirmed his 20-year prison sentence for involvement in a campaign to drive Muslims out of a would-be Bosnian Croat ministate in Bosnia in the early 1990s. (ICTY via AP)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Bosnian Croat war criminal Slobodan Praljak likely died from heart failure after swallowing potassium cyanide, Dutch prosecutors said Friday, two days after he committed suicide in front of UN judges.

“The preliminary results of the toxicological test showed that Mister Praljak had a concentration of potassium cyanide in his blood,” the Dutch prosecution said in a statement in English.

“This has resulted in a failure of the heart, which is pointed out as the suspected cause of death.”

The preliminary results were released after an autopsy was carried out on the body of Praljak, who on Wednesday in a last act of defiance against the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, swallowed the poison in front of UN judges just moments after they upheld his 20-year prison term.

“Praljak passed away in Westeinde hospital in The Hague after consuming a fluid substance in the courtroom of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,” the Dutch prosecution service said in a statement.

Two Croatian experts were also present during Friday’s autopsy carried out at the Netherlands Forensics Institute in The Hague.

Contacted by AFP prosecutor Marilyn Fikenscher confirmed that the autopsy was over, but said “we are still awaiting the final results.”

Croatian former general Slobodan Praljak (C) arrives at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), prior to the judgement in his appeal case, along with five other former Bosnian Croat political and military leaders on November 29, 2017 at the Hague international court, in the court’s final verdict for war crimes committed during the break-up of Yugoslavia. (AFP/Robin van Lonkhuijsen)

She also said she could not go into details about what levels of potassium cyanide were found in Praljak’s blood, nor whether his body remained in the National Foresenics Institute in The Hague where the autopsy was carried out.

“These are just preliminary results, we must wait until the final results,” she said, “it doesn’t happen a lot that someone commits suicide like this.”

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