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WORLD NEWS Thursday 30 November 2017

War crimes court winds down with defendant's stunning death

By MIKE CORDER the "deep moral injustice"
Associated Press done to the six Bosnian Cro-
THE HAGUE, Netherlands ats, the prime minister said.
(AP) — A convicted war Croatian state TV reported
criminal from Croatia swal- that President Kolinda Gra-
lowed what he said was bar Kitarovic cut short an
poison and died Wednes- official visit to Iceland and
day after a United Na- the government held an
tions court in the Nether- emergency session.
lands upheld his 20-year Praljak, 72, had been in
sentence for committing the tribunal's custody be-
crimes against humanity fore the hearing. Poison
during the Bosnian war of has not yet been identified
the 1990s. as the cause of his death,
In a stunning end to the fi- and it was not clear how
nal case at the U.N.'s Inter- he would have gotten ac-
national Criminal Tribunal cess to a lethal substance
for the former Yugoslavia, or managed to smuggle it
former Croatian general into the courtroom.
Slobodan Praljak yelled, "I A lawyer who has frequent-
am not a war criminal!" in a ly defended suspects at the
courtroom and appeared war crimes court told The
to drink from a small bottle. Associated Press it would
Medical staff at the tribu- In this photo provided by the ICTY on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, Slobodan Praljak brings a bot- be easy to bring poison into
nal in The Hague rushed to tle to his lips, during a Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. Praljak yelled, "I the court.
am not a war criminal!" and appeared to drink from a small bottle, seconds after judges re-
Praljak's side before he was confirmed his 20-year prison sentence for involvement in a campaign to drive Muslims out of a
taken to a local hospital, would-be Bosnian Croat ministate in Bosnia in the early 1990s. Prominent Serbian lawyer
where he died, tribunal (ICTY via AP) Toma Fila said security for
spokesman Nenad Gol- lawyers and other court
cevski told reporters at the could investigate. Police helmets and with oxygen state inside Bosnia in the staff "is just like at an air-
court. in The Hague declined to tanks on their backs, went early 1990s. All had their port." Security officers in-
The courtroom where the comment on the case. into the court shortly after guilty verdicts sustained by spect metal objects and
dramatic scene unfolded Dutch police, an am- the incident. the U.N.'s war crimes court confiscate cellphones, but
was sealed off. Presiding bulance and a firetruck Praljak and five other for- Wednesday. "pills and small quantities of
Judge Carmel Agius said quickly arrived outside the mer Bosnian Croat officials Croatian Prime Minister An- liquids" would not be regis-
it was now a "crime scene" court's headquarters and were convicted as part of drej Plenkovic offered con- tered, Fila said.q
and that Dutch police emergency service work- a criminal plan to carve dolences to Praljak's family.
ers, some of them wearing out a Bosnian Croat mini- Praljak's actions reflected
Terrorism charges brought against 9 Turks held in Greece

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Police said a search of with the coming visit. They
Greek authorities brought their residences uncovered see it as a goodwill gesture,
terrorism charges Wednes- detonators, a handgun a gift, from the Greek gov-
day against nine suspect- and materials easily avail- ernment to Mr. Erdogan,"
ed left-wing militants from able on the market that she said.
Turkey, who were arrested could potentially be used "They see themselves as
during a series of raids in to make explosives. people who are struggling
Athens ahead of a visit by About 20 Kurdish protesters against a fascist regime, as
Turkish President Recep gathered outside the Ath- they call the Turkish regime,
Tayyip Erdogan. ens court house where the and against the thousands
An Athens prosecutor also suspects were charged, of arrests and disappear-
charged the eight men holding banners and shout- ances in Turkey and Kurd-
and one woman with of- ing slogans against their istan."
fences including alleged detention. Zorbala said she has not
arms and explosives pos- Defense lawyer Aleka Zor- yet been allowed access
session, forgery and resist- Turks escorted by anti-terror police arrive at a court in Athens, bala said her clients deny to the police and court
ing arrest. Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017. the charges, and linked documents concerning her
The eight were arrested (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) their arrests with Erdogan's clients, and charged that
Tuesday on suspicion of scheduled Dec. 7-8 visit. they had been subjected
links with the Revolutionary Front, which is deemed a key, the United States and "They believe that their ar- to violence during their ar-
People's Liberation Party- terrorist organization by Tur- the European Union. rest ... is directly connected rest and detention.q