Colombia Three

The Colombia Three are three individuals – Niall Connolly, James Monaghan and Martin McCauley – who are currently living in the Republic of Ireland, having fled from Colombia, where they were sentenced to prison terms of seventeen years for training FARC rebels.

The three came to prominence on 11 August 2001, when they were arrested travelling on false passports at Bogotá International Airport while waiting to transfer to international flights out of the country. The Colombian authorities alleged at the time that they were training FARC rebels and were members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). According to General Fernando Tapias the Colombian authorities were tipped off by "an international security organisation".

Two of the three men, Monaghan and McCauley, had arrived in Colombia on 30 June 2001 on a flight from Belfast, via Paris. Niall Connolly had flown from Dublin, via Madrid, and spent a day in Caracas before making a rendezvous in Bogotá. The three men then spent the next five weeks travelling through a demilitarised southern zone of Colombia, then under the control of the FARC rebels as part of peace talks with the Colombian government. They were arrested as soon as they touched down in Bogotá on a commercial flight on the Saturday night.

After the men's arrest at Bogota airport they were only charged with travelling on false passports, until 15 February 2002 when they were also charged with training FARC rebels in bomb-making. After a number of delays, including a boycott of proceedings by the three accused, the trial opened on 2 December 2002. Following a number of adjournments, the trial closed on 1 August 2003. The trial judge returned a verdict which found the three men guilty of travelling on false passports and they were given varying sentences of up to 44 months. They were found not guilty on the more serious charges relating to training FARC rebels; however, the judge ordered their release upon payment of fines equivalent to £3,800.

In accordance with Colombian law, the prosecution had the right to appeal the verdict, which it did. While awaiting appeal, the three men were free to leave jail, but were instructed by a judge to remain within the country. The appeal court overturned the original trial verdict, and convicted the men of training the rebels, sentencing them to seventeen years in jail on 16 December 2004.

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Wikipedia