Trial of Colombia Three 'a farce'

THE trial of three Irishmen accused of training FARC guerrillas in Colombia was described as a farce as it entered its final phase yesterday.

Caitriona Ruane, spokeswoman for the campaign to bring the men home, said the trial had been unfair from the beginning.

Niall Connolly, aged 36, James Monaghan, aged 56, and Martin McCauley, aged 40, were arrested at Bogota International Airport almost two years ago as they returned from a demilitarised zone in Colombia.

They were charged with training rebels in bomb-making techniques, as well as with using false passports, and face up to 20 years in jail if convicted.

Ms Ruane said: "From the start the trial has been very unfair. It has been unfair at the investigative stage and it has been unfair at the trial stage, not so much the judge but the prosecutor.

"What we have witnessed is basically a farce.

"We have had military witnesses masquerading as civilians on the stand prepared by the prosecution. We have had fabricated forensics."

Ms Ruane said that videos provided an alibi for one of the men, while another had been seen at a dinner in Ireland on the same day that a prosecution witness claimed he was in Colombia.

She also said a forensics expert had refuted evidence used by the prosecution.

"If the judge acts on the evidence presented to him in the court these men should be home with their families," she said. Ms Ruane added that, if the men are found guilty, the verdict would be appealed at every opportunity in the US and Europe.

The court case, which has taken more than a year, resumed in Bogota yesterday and was expected to end this week.

However, a verdict from the single judge was not expected for some time.

The men have been supported by a team of observers led by Ms Ruane throughout the case.

They deny the charges, claiming they were observing the Colombian peace process.

Catríona Ruane of the Bring Them Home Committee has said that the main charge should be dropped against the three men.

She claimed the prosecution had no evidence against them and they should be sent home immediately.

Fianna Fáil MEP Niall Andrews, who is part of the international observers' team, has said he will be raising the case of the three men in the European Parliament when it resumes after summer recreation.