Colombia Three’s 17-year jail term ‘severe and surprising’

THE 17-year prison sentences handed down to three Irishmen for training FARC terrorists in Colombia was last night criticised by Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern as “surprising” and “severe”.

In his first response to the punitive terms, Mr Ahern described them as very severe, made more surprising by the complete overturning of the men’s acquittal in April.

He said his officials would now examine the 120-page judgment to see if there was a “grain of promise” for the three men.