Lawyers say 'Colombia Three' can't get fair trial
Two suspected IRA members and another man linked to the group who allegedly trained Colombian rebels in terrorist tactics cannot get a fair trial, their lawyers said tonight.
On the eve of a key court appearance, the lawyers insisted the charges had been trumped up by the Colombian government, and that it had capitalised on the case to plead for more counter-terrorism aid from the United States.
“These three men must not become victims or guinea pigs in this global fight against terrorism,” said Pedro Mahecha, the lawyer for James Monaghan.
Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and Monaghan were arrested at Bogota airport on August 11 last year after visiting a rebel stronghold in southern Colombia.
Prosecutors have accused the trio of training the rebels in terrorist tactics and explosives. If convicted, they face 15 to 20 years in a Colombian prison.
Tomorrow, the judge in the case is expected to rule on evidence in the case and set the date for the public hearing, in which lawyers will present their arguments and evidence.
The defence lawyers said the case is based on flimsy evidence and is full of procedural errors.
They noted that the three men were arrested by military officials, even though the army doesn’t have the power to make arrests.
Activists working for the release of the trio also said they would not get a fair trial.
“We feel that the men shouldn’t have gone to trial at all, given the lack of hard evidence,” said Caitriona Ruane.
Prosecutors say the men are clearly linked to the IRA, and that they came to Colombia to help rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Ruane said the men came to Colombia last year to study the peace process launched by then-President Andres Pastrana, who gave the rebels a safe haven the size of Switzerland during three years of peace talks.
The men went deep into the southern Colombian jungle to visit the demilitarised zone. Prosecutors claim that is where they spent several weeks training the rebels to build explosives.
The Irishmen were travelling with false passports when they were arrested.
A US congressional report said up to 15 IRA members have visited the rebel stronghold since 1998.
It said the FARC was increasingly using IRA-style technology, citing truck-mounted mortars, homemade weapons systems pioneered by the IRA in the 1980s and sophisticated car bombs.
Sinn Fein initially denied any knowledge of the three men but later conceded that Connolly was their representative in Latin American.
Monaghan, an IRA veteran, was convicted in 1971 of possessing explosives and conspiring to cause explosions. He has also been publicly associated with Sinn Fein.
McCauley was wounded during a police ambush at an IRA arms dump in 1982 and was later convicted of weapons possession.
