Sinn Fein visit highlights plight of Colombia Three

Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly has arrived in Colombia to visit three jailed Irishmen found not guilty of training terrorists.

Mr Kelly arrived in Bogota over the weekend to visit James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley at the invitation of the Bring Them Home Campaign.

Mr Kelly said: “These three men have been in prison in Colombia under threat of death for almost three years. They have been found innocent of the charge of training the FARC by a Colombian court yet they have been unable to return home to their families in Ireland.

“It is vital that the spotlight remains on this case and that the campaign for the return of the three men continues.

“There is no basis for the appeal currently being mounted by the Colombian Attorney General and the men’s lives are undoubtedly under threat. It is vital that the three men are allowed to leave Colombia and return home safely to their families in Ireland.”

Mr Monaghan, Mr Connolly and Mr McCauley were cleared of training Marxist rebels in Colombia in March.

All three men had been free to leave their jail cells but have refused to pay the fines to enable them to leave jail. They claim their lives would be at risk if they were not offered some sort of protection from authorities.

While Judge Jairo Acosta denied such a claim, he said that if the men were allowed to return home to Ireland there were no guarantees they would return to Colombia for the appeal.

An appeal against the verdict was launched immediately, however it could be several months before the case comes to court.

(MB)