Court refuses to let Colombia Three go home

A COURT in Colombia last night refused to allow three Irishmen, who were cleared of charges of instructing guerilla fighters, to return home.

James Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly were cleared last month of training FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) guerrillas in bomb-making techniques but were convicted of the lesser offence of using false passports.

The court rejected a request to allow the men to leave the country while an appeal against the verdict is being lodged by the South American country’s attorney general.