The International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague convicted a former Bosnian commander of war crimes yesterday in connection with incidents which took place in Bosnia between 1992 and 1993.

His punishment?

Sentencing Oric to two years' imprisonment, the judges said that his time served in jail since his arrest in April 2003 should be taken into account and he should be released immediately.

Yes, you are reading correctly. The Court found the defendant guilty of war crimes and then ordered his immediate release.

This just about sums up the utter fecklessness of western international bodies these days. These are the very organizations — we should remember — that liberals wish to entrust with running the world. Only the other day Wesley Clark argued on television that we should turn the Guantanamo Bay detainees to an international court. We can easily surmise their likely 'punishment' if we should ever be mad enough to do so — they'll walk and we will be ordered to pay compensation.

Vasko Kohlmayer  7 1 06