War Criminal dies after Drinking Poison in UN Courtroom in Protest of his Sentence being Upheld

Slobodan Praljak, a Brosnian Croat war criminal has died after drinking poison in the United Nations courtroom, Guardian reports.

The 72-year-old drank a phial of poison at a UN tribunal in The Hague just seconds after his 20-year sentence was upheld, shouting, “Praljak is not a criminal. I reject your verdict.”

He notified the judge and the courtroom of what he had done after raising the small bottle to his lips, saying “I just drank poison.”

Guardian reports that an ambulance had within minutes arrived outside the tribunal, and after several emergency workers rushed into the building carrying equipment, the court guard said Praljak was “receiving all necessary medical attention.”

However, the Croatian prime minister, Andrej Plenković, later confirmed his death and offered condolences to his family.

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

While the judges, in their ruling, allowed part of Praljak’s appeal that said the bridge had been a legitimate military target during the conflict, and overturned some of his convictions, they still refused to reduce his sentence.

Watch the moment he ingested the poison below:

Clearer video of Slobodan Praljak poisoning himself. This with a translation of what he said directly after.pic.twitter.com/eIKhFRBK18

— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) November 29, 2017