Hague Tribunal hearing suspended after accused drinks poison

A hearing of the Yugoslavia Tribunal in The Hague was suspended on Wednesday after one of the suspects told the court that he had taken poison. Whether he actually did so, is unclear, NOS reports.

The person involved is 72-year-old Slobodan Praljak. He is one of six Bosnian Croats, including the Prime Minister and five other political and military leaders of the former mini-state Herceg-Bosna, waiting to hear the verdict in their appeal. They were all previously sentenced to jail for war crimes.

When Praljak heard that his 2013 sentence of 20 years in prison will be upheld, he stood, tipped his head back and appeared to swallow something from a glass, according to the BBC. "I have taken poison", he told the judge. According to AP, he also said: "I am not a war criminal."

The judge immediately ordered that the proceedings be suspended.