The Trial of Radovan Karadzic

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Today, Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader, obtained an adjournment of his genocide and war crimes trial in The Hague. This is not a surprise, as during the first day of the hearings, which he had earlier boycotted due to insufficient time to prepare, he again stated that he had a credible and strong defence to offer if he were given a little more time.

I've listened to portions of the hearings yesterday and from what I can discern he will need more than a little time if his defense rests on the claim that "they did it first". Unfortunately for him, 'they hit me first' is not a legal defense to murder, particularly in the case of of the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica, where Bosnian Serb forces killed some 8,000 unarmed Muslim men and boys.

He told judges he would use "marble-solid evidence" to prove that "there was never a plan nor an idea to expel Muslims from the Republic Srpska,".

A note to Karadzic - marble is porous. Stains always remain in place.