Colombia three to take stand

Three Irishmen accused of training Colombian rebels are expected to testify today, in their first court appearance since the trial against them began nine months ago.

The men have previously refused to attend the hearings in Bogota, saying that it is impossible for them to get a fair trial in Colombia because of the highly political nature of the charges.

In final arguments to be presented this afternoon, defence lawyers will attempt to convince Judge Jairo Acosta that the men were in a rebel stronghold only to observe a now-defunct peace process between the rebels and the government.

Once hearings end this week, Acosta has 15 working days to decide the men’s fate.

James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley were arrested in August 2001 at Bogota’s airport after visiting a stronghold of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The men, known now in Europe as “the Colombian three,” were travelling with false passports.

Prosecution witnesses say the men tested weapons and trained FARC rebels in terrorist techniques while at the stronghold in southern Colombia.

Authorities blame them for teaching FARC rebels how to employ more sophisticated technology in their 39-year-old war against the government. One specific example, they say, was the mortar attack during President Alvaro Uribe’s inauguration last August that killed 21 people.

On Monday prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence of 20 years for the men, recalling testimony of former rebels who said they saw the suspects training insurgents.

In previous hearings, defence lawyers presented alibi witnesses who said the men were not in Colombia at the time prosecutors said they were.

Monaghan is an IRA veteran convicted in 1971 for possessing explosives and conspiring to cause explosions.

Connolly lived in Cuba for several years, where he served as the Latin American representative for Sinn Féin.

McCauley was wounded during a police ambush at an IRA arms dump in 1982 and was later convicted of weapons possession.