Colombia Convicts Irishmen
A top Colombian court convicted three Irishmen on Thursday of training Colombian rebels in terrorist tactics and sentenced them to 17 years in prison.
A three-judge panel in Bogota, the capital, overturned the acquittals of James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley -- all suspected Irish Republican Army members -- and ordered their arrests. But Atty. Gen. Luis Camilo Osorio said they had fled the country.
After they spent three years in prison, a judge ordered their release in April. The three went into hiding, apparently fearful that right-wing death squads might target them because of their alleged ties to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. They were to stay in Colombia during the appeal.
They had been arrested in August 2001 at Bogota’s airport after leaving Colombia’s southern jungles. Officials said the three, who deny being IRA members, had traveled there to instruct FARC members.
The Irishmen admit to meeting with the FARC and spending several weeks near a large guerrilla camp, but said they were observing peace talks.
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