Three denied being involved in illegal or military activities

Dan Buckley traces the arrest and detention of the men who became known as the Colombia Three.

NIALL CONNOLLY, Martin McCauley and Jim Monaghan were arrested at Bogota airport on August 11, 2001, en route to Ireland from the demilitarised zone controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the south-east of that country.

The three Irishmen were arrested as they prepared to board a flight. They were accused of teaching left-wing FARC rebels urban terrorism techniques.