A former Croat general died in court by drinking poison seconds after his 20 year sentence was upheld.

Slobodan Praljik, 72, smuggled a small glass bottle containing a poisonous liquid that killed him almost instantly. When the judge upheld his sentence, Slobodan Praljik shouted, “Slobodan Praljik is not a war criminal. I am rejecting your verdict with contempt!” and then drank the poison. Then, he told the court that he had just drank poison.

He then slouched into his chair and started gasping for air. Witnesses say it looked and sounded like he was choking.

Medics in the court room rushed to help him and perform CPR. One medic said that he was experiencing heart failure. After 20 minutes of CPR, he was brought to the hospital and pronounced dead.

The judge immediately had the curtains pulled, so that the public could not see. The courtroom was being treated as a crime scene after Praljik drank the poison. It is unclear how he was able to get the poison into the courtroom, as he passed through multiple strip searches before entering.

On Friday, Dutch prosecutors announced that Mr. Praljik had died of heart failure after ingesting potassium cyanide – a highly toxic compound – and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia announced that it would conduct its own “independent, expert review” of Mr. Praljik’s suicide.” The New York Times reported.

Slobodan Praljik is one of six former member leaders of Croatia found guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including in the rape and murder of Bosnian Muslims in 2013. Praljik played a significant role in securing weapons and ammunition for the Croatian Army. These offenses go all the way to 1992 and 1994 which were part of the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990’s.

According to CNN, the appeal judges upheld the findings of an earlier trial that implicated the Croatian regime under then-President Franjo Tudjman in a criminal conspiracy with the goal of “ethnic cleansing of the Muslim population” of parts of Bosnia to ensure Croatian domination.”