Bosnian Muslim Slayer, Slobodan Praljak Died By Drinking Cyanide In The Middle Of The International Court Of Justice
Slobodan Praljak (Sumber: Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - In the eyes of the world, Slobodan Praljak is a war criminal. The former general of the Croatian army was responsible for the massacre and destruction of ethnic Bosnian Muslim mosques during the Croatian-Bosnian War (1992-1994). He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Slobodan Praljak rejected the accusation. Instead, he chose to die by drinking cyanide instead of continuing the remaining sentence with the status of a war criminal.

Slobodan Praljak was born on 2 June 1945 in Capljina, Bosnia-Herzegovina. His father, Mirko Praljak is a member of the Department of People's Protection (OZNA), a secret police agency founded by the President of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Toto.

This background makes Slobodan Praljak a well-off life. He pursued the best education at SIroki Brijeg Middle School. It was there that he became good friends with Gojko Susak - who later became Croatian Minister of Defense in the 1990s.

The man who was nicknamed Brada - Si Janggut - seemed to have no trouble with his education. In fact, Slobodan Praljak won three bachelor degrees. Some of these include degrees from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Academy of Theater, Film and Television from the University of Zagreb.

After school, his first career choice was head of an electronics laboratory and teaching at the Nikola Tesla Technical School in Zagreb. This happened right before he became an artist.

“During the 1973-1980s, Praljak staged a number of theatrical shows and produced the Blesan and Tulip television series as well as the television dramas Novela od Stanca and Laut Sargasso. He also made the documentary The Death of a Dog as well as the documentary videos Sandzak and Tobacco. In 1989, Praljak made the big screen film The Return of Katarina Kozul, ”wrote Iwan Kurniawan in his writing in Tempo magazine entitled Sianida untuk Jenderal Janggut (2017).

Slobodan Praljak (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

His career changed when Yugoslavia split into six. The six countries became known as the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.

This separation made Slobodan Praljak, who was originally known as an artist, joined the Croatian army since Yugoslavia broke up. Along with the separation, inter-ethnic conflicts have emerged more and more. In particular, the conflict between ethnic Serbs and Bosnians.

The Bosnian War broke out in 1992. Slobodan Praljak was appointed Commander of Operation Dawn of June fighting under the banner of the Serbs. Their mission is to eradicate the Bosnian Muslims. In that battle, Slobodan Praljak became a key figure.

Slobodan Praljak helped destroy the iconic 16th-century bridge in Mostar, Bosnia. He also facilitated and concealed the killings of ethnic Bosnian Muslims, including victims of the Stupni Do.

In the village of Stupni Do, Croatian troops are recorded to have killed more than three dozen ethnic Bosnian Muslims. Not only killing, the houses in the village were also burned down. In addition there are 20 bodies that are known to have been burned, including children.

"This is not war. This is a war crime. Those who have done this will one day answer it, ”the head of staff of the UN Protection Forces in Bosnia, Angus Ramsay was quoted by the Washington Post.

Even so, Slobodan Praljak's loyalty to the country during the war then made him promoted to General. He is also the Assistant Minister of Defense, accompanying his school friend, Gojko Susak.

Croatian President Franjo Tudjman then appointed Slobodan Praljak as one of the 14 members of the Croatian Defense Council (HVO). After the war, Slobodan Praljak kept a lot of his life in the business world and channeled his artistic talents by establishing the Oktavijan company, a film, video and television program production company.

End of Slobodan Praljak
Slobodan Praljak (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

For this crime, Slobodan Praljak only submitted to court in 2004.He was convicted by a judge at the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Den Haag, the Netherlands as a war criminal in 2013.

Slobodan Praljak was sentenced to 20 years in prison and is projected to be released in 2019. However, Slobodan Praljak never felt himself a war criminal. Appealing is the main option to restore goodwill in 2017.

However, the appeal was never fulfilled. The Court rejected his appeal. Instantly, in a courtroom in The Hague, the 73-year-old man stood up to protest.

Slobodan Praljak said: Holy, Slobodan Praljak nije ratni zlocinac! (Judges, Slobodan Praljak are not war criminals! I reject your verdict).

At the same time, he was shown a bottle in the middle of the congregation. Slobodan Praljak also drank the liquid in it. He had said: What I'm drinking now is poison.

Slobodan Praljak collapsed. Judges immediately ordered courtroom curtains to immediately block the view of spectators in the public gallery. Meanwhile, television coverage immediately darkened.

The former general was then rushed to Westeinde hospital. His life was not saved two hours later. Slobodan Praljak died. The results of the toxicology test showed that the blood contained a concentration of potassium cyanide.

As to who gave the poison, at least to this day is still a mystery. Slobodan Praljak's lawyer, Nika Pinter, said that before he died, the General had informed his family not to appear at the court's decision. Even so, Nika Pinter did not expect this to be a sign that Slobodan Praljak was about to commit suicide.

“Right from the start, 13 years ago, he told me that he couldn't stand being called a war criminal. He can't live with stigma. He never gave a hint that he planned to end his life, "said Nika Pinter quoted by The New York Times.

It is possible that the inhabitants of the world consider him a war criminal. For Krosia himself, Slobodan Praljak is like a hero. On the day of his death, the Croatian people lit candles in honor of the beard's general departure.

"I came here to support our generals and respect General Praljak who could not bear the injustice that made his final decision. He is our pride and hero," said Croatian war veteran Darko Drmac quoted by the BBC.

* Read other information about WORLD HISTORY or read other interesting articles from Detha Arya Tifada.

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