Croatia-Serbia tensions rise after UN court decision

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - A fresh dispute between Croatia and Serbia has broken out following the sudden death of a Bosnian Croat war crimes suspect who drank poison in a UN court on Wednesday.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Wednesday sentenced a group of six Bosnian Croat leaders from 1992-1995 Bosnian War to a total of 111 years in prison.

One of the group, former general Slobodan Praljak, stood up, rejected the verdict, and drank poison from a small bottle. Later on the UN court has confirmed Praljak had died in the hospital.

The Appeal Council also once again confirmed that then-Croatian President Franjo Tudjman joined forces with the Croatian forces in the country during the Bosnian War in a "joint criminal enterprise".

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said on Thursday his country did not attack anyone, blaming Serbian forces instead.

"(Slobodan) Praljak chose to die rather than live as a convicted prisoner for crimes he did not commit. Croatia did not attack anyone. On the contrary, it supported the unity of Bosnia; the attackers were the Serbian and Yugoslav armies led by [Slobodan] Milosevic," said Kitarovoc.

Kitarovoc added it was "unfair" that Bosniaks and Serbs were not punished for attacks on Bosnian Croats.

However, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said it was easy for everyone to blame Serbs when talking about the war, claiming no one had been convicted of crimes against Serbs.