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 Associated Press
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Dutch prosecutors say that an autopsy will be carried out soon on a former Bosnian Croatian general who died shortly after swallowing liquid he said was poison during an appeals hearing at a United Nations war crimes tribunal.
Frans Zonneveld of the Public Prosecution Service in The Hague said Thursday it wasn't clear exactly when the autopsy will take place on Slobodan Praljak.
The 72-year-old stunned the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on Wednesday when he gulped down liquid from a small bottle seconds after a U.N. appeals judge had confirmed a 20-year sentence against him.
Praljak was convicted in 2013 of crimes including murder, persecution and deportation for his role in a plan to carve out a Bosnian Croat ministate in Bosnia in the early 1990s.
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 Associated Press
Slobodan Praljak enters the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, to hear the verdict in the appeals case. The hearing was suspended after Praljak claimed to have drunk poison and shouted that he was not a war criminal, after his 20-year sentence was upheld. A United Nations war crimes tribunal handed down its last judgment, in an appeal by six Bosnian Croat political and military leaders who were convicted in 2013 of persecuting, expelling and murdering Muslims during Bosnia's war in the tribunal's last case. (Robin van Lonkhuijsen,Pool Photo via AP)
The Associated Press
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 Associated Press
Slobodan Praljak enters the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, to hear the verdict in the appeals case. The hearing was suspended after Praljak claimed to have drunk poison and shouted that he was not a war criminal, after his 20-year sentence was upheld. A United Nations war crimes tribunal handed down its last judgment, in an appeal by six Bosnian Croat political and military leaders who were convicted in 2013 of persecuting, expelling and murdering Muslims during Bosnia's war in the tribunal's last case. (Robin van Lonkhuijsen,Pool Photo via AP)
The Associated Press