THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The Latest on the death of 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. (all times local):
11:10 a.m.
A Dutch prosecutor has told The Associated press that preliminary tests show that a container from which a Croat war criminal drank shortly before dying contained a deadly chemical.
Prosecutor Marilyn Fikenscher said in a telephone interview Thursday that, "there was a preliminary test of the substance in the container and all I can say for now is that there was a chemical substance in that container that can cause death."
Slobodan Praljak 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.
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10:45 a.m.
Croatian prime minister says ex-Bosnian Croat military commander who dramatically took his own life at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal wanted to send a message to the U.N. court that the verdict against him was unjust.
Andrej Plenkovic said at the start of the Croatian government session on Thursday that former general Slobodan Praljak was "obviously shaken by the possibility he would be convicted" of war crimes during Bosnia's 1992-95 war.
Praljak on Wednesday drank from a small bottle as U.N. judges upheld his conviction. Praljak said he had taken poison and later died in a hospital in The Hague, Netherlands.
Croatian lawmakers Thursday held a moment of silence for Praljak and the war victims, saying "let the death of general Praljak be the last act of the war."
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10:30 a.m.
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.
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