Convicted war criminal Slobodan Praljak dies after dramatically drinking poison in court

Convicted Bosnian Croat war criminal Slobodan Praljak has reportedly died from drinking poison after hearing that his sentence had been upheld at the Hague on Wednesday, The Associated Press reports. "With disdain, I reject this verdict," Praljak told the court before dramatically drinking a liquid he identified as "poison."

Praljak, 72, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2013 over crimes in Mostar, the site of some of the "fiercest fighting" during the Bosnian War, the BBC reports. Praljak served as the former commander of the Bosnian Croat defense forces and when "informed that soldiers were rounding up Muslims in Prozor in the summer of 1993, he had failed to make any serious efforts to stop the action, the U.N. war crimes tribunal found."

Praljak was one of six Bosnian Croat leaders accused of ethnic cleansing crimes who appeared before the Hague's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on Wednesday. An ambulance was called and proceedings suspended after Praljak drank the liquid.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.