Detained Irishmen ‘being denied fair trial’

Three Irishmen detained for the last six months by the authorities in Colombia on suspicion of training left wing rebels are being denied a fair trial, their supporters claimed tonight.

Campaigners calling for the release of republicans James Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly, who were arrested in the South American country last August on charges of travelling on false passports and training Marxist FARC rebels, called on the Irish government and human rights organisations to demand their freedom.