Final prosecution witnesses to testify in 'Colombia Three' trial

Prosecutors in the trial of three men accused of training rebels in Colombia are set to present more witnesses this week to try to prove the men trained rebels in the jungles of southern Colombia.

The police officer who arrested the three men in August 2001 and a Colombian anti-terrorist expert who is expected to provide testimony comparing IRA methods with those used by Colombia’s primary rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, are among the witnesses scheduled to testify in the phase of the trial which begins today.

James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley were arrested at Bogota’s airport after visiting a FARC stronghold where prosecutors say they trained insurgents in explosives and other techniques.

A Colombian army major testified in December that the nation’s largest rebel group had received sophisticated technology in the past few years that only could have been obtained from abroad.

Yet the trial was suspended after prosecutors failed to produce the rest of their witnesses.

At least one of two witnesses who failed to show up in December is expected to testify this week, said Jose Luis Velasco, McCauley’s defence lawyer.

Arrangements were to be made to fly jailed FARC rebel Edwin Giovanny Rodriguez to Bogota from Villavicencio. In December, prosecutors had said it was too dangerous for Rodriguez to make the two-hour trip by road because there are frequent attacks on the route.

Whether star witness John Alexander Rodriguez, a FARC deserter, would testify in Bogota this week was unclear.

Despite participating in a government rehabilitation programme, John Alexander Rodriguez could not be found in December, according to prosecutors. He was located in January, and the judge authorised the witness to give his testimony in Medellin, Colombia’s second-largest city.

Defence lawyers have appealed that ruling and were expecting a response from the judge today.

John Alexander Rodriguez is expected to testify that he met the suspects in 1999 inside the rebel safe haven and that the three men brought rocket launchers with them to sell to the FARC, according to local media reports.

Since the suspects are not charged with arms trafficking, it was unclear how prosecutors intended to use that testimony.

The three men, who were travelling on false passports, insist they were in Colombia to observe the peace process between former President Andres Pastrana and the FARC.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has acknowledged that Connolly was the Latin American representative for the party.

This segment of the trial, which the three men are not expected to attend, is scheduled to last until Friday.