Govt to loan €17,000 to help secure release of Colombia Three

The Government has reportedly agreed to loan €17,000 to the so-called Colombia Three to help secure their release from a Colombian jail.

James Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly were acquitted on Monday of training anti-government rebels in the South American country, but were convicted of travelling on false passports and sentenced to between 26 and 44 months in prison.

They are expected to be released in the near future under what the Colombian legal system terms “conditional freedom”, which includes the payment of a bond.

This bond would then be repaid at the end of the men’s sentence.

Reports this morning said the Department of Foreign Affairs had agreed to loan the bond to the three Irishmen “on the basis of a firm undertaking to repay this sum”.