He might be looking at a lengthy spell behind bars but Conrad Black's self-belief remains unshakeable. With his sentencing coming up in late November, Black resumed his column in the newspaper he created, the National Post, last weekend.

Some of it was devoted to the worrying state of the global economy but he couldn't resist the urge to have some shots at his enemies.

"It is fair to say we won three quarters of our case, and hope to win the rest at the next stage."

He said he shared "the lamentations from readers noting the hundreds of millions my opponents have pocketed, while destroying $1.5-billion of shareholder value." I will write and publish the full account of this travesty in good time.'' Black wrote.

Yeah, can't wait.

You can read the column here.

In the meantime, prosecutors have rejected claims by Black's lawyers for a mistrial, claiming that this is based on the notion that the evidence wasn't "juicy enough to be the plot for a television show or movie."

Meanwhile, Black's old company Hollinger is fighting to keep its bankruptcy protection.

And Bloomberg reports Black's lawyer Edward Greenspan saying that his client wouldn't had the money to fight the criminal charges without striking a secret deal with Hollinger.