Prosecutor: Container Croat drank from held deadly chemical
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A deadly chemical was in the container from which a Croat war criminal drank shortly before dying, a Dutch prosecutor said Thursday, as an independent investigation into the dramatic death of Slobodan Praljak moved forward.
“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,” Prosecutor Marilyn Fikenscher told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. She declined to elaborate on the exact nature of the substance.
Praljak, 72, 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 confirmed a 20-year sentence against him.
The wartime commander of Bosnian Croat forces said in court that he had taken poison. He was rushed to a Hague hospital but died there, tribunal spokesman Nenad Golcevski said.