Dutch investigators have found traces of poison following the suicide of a Bosnian Croat leader during the final day of a UN war crimes tribunal, a spokesman said Thursday.
On Wednesday, wartime military chief Slobodan Praljak drank from a vial seconds after the judges in the Hague confirmed his 20-year sentence for war crimes.
With cameras on him live, Praljak yelled that he was “not a criminal,” then drank from the small bottle.
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He passed away shortly afterwards in a Hague hospital.
The poison was “a chemical which can be lethal,” the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said, without naming the substance.
The ICTY requested an independent investigation from Dutch authorities, who say the focus is on who helped the 72-year old obtain the poison.
Praljak’s body was due for a coroner’s examination during the day. The ICTY did not further comment the investigation.