Colombia Three are jailed

Three Irishmen linked to the IRA were jailed for up to 17 1/2 years in Colombia today for training communist rebels in terrorist tactics.

Caitriona Ruane, who heads the Bring Them Home campaign that sought the Irishmen’s release, said the Bogota court overturned an earlier decision clearing James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley of terrorism-related charges.

The Colombian government had appealed the earlier verdict

“I can confirm that the court overturned the decision,” Ruane said in Ireland.

A court secretary confirmed that a decision in the case had been made, but said she was unable to immediately reveal its content.

The suspected IRA members were arrested in August 2001 at Bogota’s international airport after leaving the rebel stronghold around San Vicente del Caguan.

In April, Judge Jaime Acosta acquitted the three of teaching fighters of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, how to make bombs. But he convicted them of the lesser charge of passport fraud.

Acosta sentenced the men to terms ranging two years and two months to more than three years for travelling on false passports. But because of time served since their arrests, Acosta ordered them freed once they paid fines of €5,000 each.

However, they were barred from leaving the country pending the appeal lodged by the Attorney General’s office.

After their release from prison, the trio immediately went into hiding claiming they were targets for right wing assassination squads.

Authorities argued the three had previous links to the IRA. Monaghan and McCauley were convicted at home of possessing weapons or explosives, and McCauley was wounded by police at an IRA weapons dump 22 years ago.

Connolly was Sinn Féin’s representative in Cuba.