• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Irish America

Irish America

        • Who We Are
          • About Us
          • Irish America Team
        • The Lists
          • Business 100
          • Hall of Fame
          • Health and Life Sciences 50
          • Wall Street 50
        • Highlights
          • History
          • In This Issue
          • Music
          • Politics
          • Sports
          • Travel
        • Columns
          • First Word
          • Hibernia
          • Quote Unquote
          • Slainte
          • Those we Lost
          • What are you like?
          • Wild Irish Women
          • Window on The Past
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • About This Magazine
    • Irish America Team
  • In This Issue
  • Hall of Fame
  • The Lists
    • Business 100
    • Hall of Fame
    • Health and Life Sciences 50
    • Wall Street 50
  • Archives
    • Magazine
    • Highlights
  • Travel
  • Events

Verdict in Colombia
Three Trial Due in February

By Irish America Staff
December / January 2003

December 1, 2002 by Leave a Comment

A verdict in the case of three Irishmen accused of training FARC guerrillas in Colombia is expected to be handed down in February, but campaigners for the three insist that they will never get a fair trial in the war-tom country.

Martin McCauley, James Monaghan and Niall Connolly have so far failed to attend the hearings, which are continuing in Bogotá.

The men have refused to leave their cells claiming they are afraid for their safety. The judge has ordered an investigation into claims that on one occasion they were beaten up by prison staff after they refused to leave the jail.

Defense lawyers for the three are to call a number of key witnesses to hearings in December and January. They include former Sinn Féin press officer and writer Danny Morrison and a British forensics expert, Keith Borer.

Morrison is expected to explain why ex-prisoners from Northern Ireland regularly travel on false documentation.

Borer will claim that there is no forensic evidence linking the men to explosives. He has examined tests carded out by the U.S. embassy in Colombia as well as tests carded out by the local authorities. According to representatives of the men, the first test by the Americans found traces of drugs and explosives but was dismissed because the civil authorities were unaware that it was being carded out. The second test found traces of explosives only. The tests carded out by the Colombian authorities found no traces of either.

Since their arrest the three have been moved seven times to five places of detention and have been kept under armed protection because of threats from right-wing para-militaries in the prison system.

Their families have expressed concern that the men’s lives are at increasing risk because of the ongoing military conflict in Colombia.

The three men have been charged with assisting illegal activities and using false documents, including passports, to collaborate with the FARC. If found guilty, they could be sentenced to 20 years in prison. ♦

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Highlights

News
Articles and stories from Irish America.....
MORE

Hibernia
News from Ireland and happenings in Irish America.....
MORE

Those We Lost
Remembering some of the great Irish Americans who have passed.....
MORE

Slainte!
Discover Irish ancestry, predilections, and recipes.....
MORE

Photo Album
Irish America readers share the stories of their ancestors....
MORE

More Articles

  • <b>Fiona Shaw: A Modern Classic</b>Fiona Shaw: A Modern Classic
    She says she's jetlagged, that her head feels as if an arrow is piercing both temples, but Fiona Sha...
  • <b>Angela's Ashes Loses Its Voice</b>Angela's Ashes Loses Its Voice
    Anyone who has read Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes -- and by now that probably takes in about half t...
  • <b>The Boy from Southie</b>The Boy from Southie
    Michael Patrick MacDonald was in the third grade when the anti-busing riots broke out in South Bost...
  • <b>The Connemara Prints</b>The Connemara Prints
    Fashion and celebrity photographer Kit DeFever (who has shot many Irish America covers) turns his ey...

Footer

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Subscribe

  • Subscribe
  • Give a Gift
  • Newsletter
  • Customer Service

Additional

  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · IrishAmerica Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in