These transcripts are courtesy of the Northern Ireland Information Agency
 

Program: GMU
Date & Time: 22 April 2004 – 8.09am
Subject Colombia Three

WENDY AUSTIN

… to the Colombia 3, it was in August 2001 that the three Irishmen were arrested. They said they were in Colombia to observe the peace process. The authorities said they were training left-wing guerrillas. So just what’s likely to happen over the next couple of days, well earlier I spoke to journalist Mark Duffy, who’s in the Colombian Capital, Bogota, and who’s been following the case.

MARK DUFFY

We’re at the very last stage. We have been waiting for just over nine months for a verdict, which was postponed on three different occasions, and it now looks like on Friday or Monday of next week at the latest, that the judge will finally pronounce on the case of the three Irishmen.

WENDY AUSTIN

And are there any indications as to how his mind is working at the moment, what’s likely to happen?

MARK DUFFY

That’s very difficult to say, there’s a lot of speculation, I think more in the press in Ireland and England than here in Bogota. The case has certainly had a very low profile over the last nine months, since the last session of the trial ended. I spoke to the judge on Wednesday afternoon, and he told me that it would be Friday or Monday, but it was really impossible to get any idea of what way he was thinking on this. 

And if the men are found guilty, well then there’s a possibility that they could receive between 15 and 20 years in prison, and that’s for the most serious charge of training the FARC Guerrillas in Colombia. On the lesser charge of entering the country with false documents, they could just be deported within days or possible weeks after the verdict is announced.

WENDY AUSTIN

During this enormously protracted procedure, the trial which has lasted for such a long time, the judge has heard evidence from all kinds of different people, I wonder just when you look back on the trial, what evidence do you think he will be considering most?

MARK DUFFY

Well the twokey witnesses for the prosecution were two FARC deserters, two young guerrillas who has deserted the organisation. They gave evidence back in March and April of last year, and they were the key witnesses for the prosecution. 

The judge of the court also heard evidence from several witnesses that the defence lawyers brought over from Ireland, as well as many, many documents, he will obviously be considering all the evidence before him very, very carefully. The feeling amongst many people who observed the trial was that there was certainly the international observers that were brought to Colombia by the ‘Bring Them Home’ campaign in Ireland. 

Feeling amongst them from the reports they wrote at the trial sessions is that really there’s no evidence to convict the men, that it’s very difficult to see how in fact they were action training FARC guerrillas at specific times when the prosecution say they were. However, the prosecution witnesses were very definite in saying that different FARC received training from men, it’s going to be very, very difficult, and indeed the judge will have a very, has had a very difficult time in weighing up all the evidence before him.

WENDY AUSTIN

Well we know by Monday at the latest by the sound of things?

MARK DUFFY

It’s possible that the verdict could be on Friday, but the judge, as I said, when I spoke to him yesterday, on Wednesday afternoon told me at Monday at the latest, and he repeated. So it could very well be, that it could be sometime on Monday, and the verdict will be announced for the media in a special room in the courthouse.

Program: GMU
Date & Time: 22.4.04 (7.06)
Subject: Colombia Three

SEAMUS MCKEE

According to a number of sources in Bogota, a verdict in the case of the three Irish men charged with travelling on false passports and training FARC rebels could be delivered tomorrow or Monday. Catriona Ruane, the Sinn Fein MLA, has been a member of the campaign to free the men and she joins us now. First of all how quickly do you think there could be a verdict?

CATRIONA RUANE

Well this trial began 8 months ago and 8 months later we still haven’t a verdict. I was over in Colombia in January and we were told categorically by the Vice-President of Colombia there would be a verdict in March. The Vice-President of Colombia was in Ireland in March and when he was here he told us he didn’t know when it would be. We understand it is immanent I am actually on my way to Colombia now. I am en route and it is expected any time. Having said that we have been here before.

SEAMUS MCKEE

How, if there is to be verdict, will it be conveyed, how will we hear it, how will the men hear it?

CATRIONA RUANE

Well there is some confusion about that. Generally in Colombia what happens is a letter is delivered to the jail by the court authorities and there isn’t a public announcement, there are some rumours that there is going to be a public announcement here and this case hasn’t been normal. It has been abnormal and treated differently than a lot of other cases. So I think, I won’t know that until we get to Colombia.

SEAMUS MCKEE

When did you last speak to the three and what were they saying?

CATRIONA RUANE

I spoke to Niall Connelly late last night, he knows I am on the way over. I also spoke to their lawyers yesterday, so everybody is waiting. I have a meeting with the lawyers tonight when I arrive and then I have a meeting with an EU Ambassador to discuss this case as well. So the men are obviously concerned, they are anxious, they have been cooped up for the last two years and nine months and they just want this nightmare over.

SEAMUS MCKEE

Was there any indication from the lawyers as to what they are expecting?

CATRIONA RUANE

It is very difficult to predict. The lawyers know that the defence have won the case, they know that if this is just a legal decision and the judge is permitted by Colombian military and political authorities to abide by the law and there is no political pressure on him that those men are going home. Having said that this is Colombia, and it is very difficult to know. This case has become the test case to see if there is independence of the judiciary.

SEAMUS MCKEE

If there is a guilty verdict will you accept it?

CATRIONA RUANE

Not at all. These men are not guilty, there is fabrication of a case. We will appeal it. I have already had meetings with international legal agencies who have looked at this case and said there is no evidence here, we will be very interested in this case if there is a conviction, it will be the test case.

SEAMUS MCKEE

Whatever your views of a verdict of guilty it will have been given, they will have been through due process as Colombians and others would see it and others would say that that ought to be accepted.

CATRIONA RUANE

Well first of all there wasn’t due process. I don’t think it is fair to say that a trial lasts 18 months, this was a very politicised trail and I would just like to remind your listeners the day that this trial started was the day Stormont was raided by the RUC. This is a very politicised trial. Most people, and I think all you would need to do is read Amnesty International United Nations reports on Colombia say there is a severe problem, there is no due process and there is not a fair trial here.

SEAMUS MCKEE

You speak of political implications and of course if we look at possible political implications of a possible guilty verdict they would be embarrassing for Sinn Fein, wouldn’t they, coming just days if we are to get a verdict soon after the IMC Report?

CATRIONA RUANE

First of all it ,won’t be embarrassing for Sinn Féin. What people in Ireland know and the Irish Government know, now let’s be honest here the Irish Government has had the Irish ambassador at every aspect of the trial. Bertie Ahern has met with the Vice-President recently. The Irish Government know there is no evidence here. 

If there is a guilty verdict well what you have is political manipulation of this case, what we have always said, you have had British, US involvement in this case. This will not be embarrassing for Sinn Féin, this will be embarrassing for British intelligence, for the US and also for Colombia because we are going to take this, the ‘Bring Them Home Campaign’ is going to take this to every international court and we are going to show exactly what happened here.

Program: GMU – Ruth McDonald
Date & Time: 23.4.04 – 07.35
Subject: Colombia Three case
 

SEAMUS MCKEE

It’s still not clear when exactly we’ll hear the case of the three Irish men in Colombia accused of travelling on false passports and training FARC rebels. I’ve been hearing the latest from our reporter Ruth McDonald who’s in Bogota.

RUTH MCDONALD

Indications at the moment are some time in the next few days, it could be as early as tomorrow, but more probably early next week. The three men, James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McAuley have been awaiting this verdict since the closing statements were finished, that happened on 1st August 2003. Back then, of course, they all thought this verdict could only take about three months at the most, but now here we are, it’s nine months later and it is still yet to come. One reason for this is that the trial judge, Hira Acosta, is the head of a group of nine, what are called, specialised judges in Bogota. Judges here can work on several cases at once not like in the UK and it can take quite some time to get through the backlog, particularly if you’ve got a lot of live cases going on at once. So that’s one reason why it’s been so slow Seamus.

SEAMUS MCKEE

And do we know more, because there seems to be some confusion about this, about how the verdict will be delivered?

RUTH MCDONALD

Well initially we thought that the verdict was going to be delivered by Judge Acosta himself, that he would perhaps call the legal teams for the men in jail and the legal teams for the prosecution in and then he would give his verdict in a very, sort of, quiet fashion. But now it looks like the verdict will be given, the judgement will be given by the Judicial Council which consists of some of Colombia’s top judges. 

Now the exact format as to how that’s going to be given isn’t known, but it seems like it should be in some form of public forum with perhaps the verdict being read out and maybe, possibly the opportunity to ask some questions, but that’s just speculation at this stage of the game. Of course the ‘Bring Them Home Campaign’ are here at the moment, they’ll be holding their own press conference and their own briefings immediately after the verdict whenever that happens.

SEAMUS MCKEE

And how will that verdict be conveyed to the men?

RUTH MCDONALD

As yet we don’t know, it’s possible that they could be told by the prison authorities, it’s possible that their lawyers could tell them. There’s a lot of unanswered questions about this one. We’re not too sure, I mean initially it was thought perhaps that if the verdict was given by Judge Acosta that the men themselves might know before anybody else, but now I think the waters have been a bit muddied by this latest development.

SEAMUS MCKEE

And what’s the sense there, is it of something about to happen, that this case is coming to an end after such a long time?

RUTH MCDONALD

It’s funny, the last time that this case made the headlines was in that week at the end of July, the beginning of August, Seamus, and you’ll remember that James Monaghan and Niall Connolly and Martin McAuley appeared in court and gave their statement themselves and then there was a big slurry of publicity, that pictures appeared on the front of all the papers and they made every evening bulletin here. 

But just talking to people who have followed this case from Colombia all the way through, there’s been absolutely no publicity or absolutely no anticipation here in the run-up to the fact that there could be a verdict. The Colombians, of course, have other things on their minds, they have their own domestic problems and their own domestic agenda going on here, but there seems to be no doubt that once a verdict happens it will spring back into the public consciousness again. But up until now there’s been very little talk or speculation about it.

COLOMBIA THREE ACQUITTED ON TRAINING FARC CHARGES

04/26/04 12:25 EST

By Irish American Information Service

Three Irishmen charged with training Marxist rebels in Colombia have been acquitted of the serious charges but were found guilty of the lesser charge of travelling using false documentation.

Sinn FEein President Gerry Adams MP has welcomed the news from Colombia that Martin McCauley, Jim Monaghan and Niall Connolly are to be freed. He called on the government to ensure that the men get home safely to their families. 

\Adams said: "This evening’s news from Colombia that Martin McCauley, Jim Monaghan and Niall Connolly are to be freed is very welcome and we now need to ensure that the men get home safely to their families. The last three years have been very difficult for the men and their families. They have been pilloried in the media, their case subject to huge prejudicial commentary and the menís lives have been in constant danger. And of course this case has been used to try and destabilise the Irish peace process.

"There was never an justification for this trial in the first place and it is clear that there were those who were intent on using these three men for their own political agenda - an agenda which at its core was about damaging the Irish Peace process," Adams said.

The men were arrested at Bogota's El Dorado international airport on August 11th, 2001, and subsequently charged with training the Marxist guerrillas of the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) in bomb-making techniques and with travelling on false documentation.

The Attorney General's office said it would appeal the ruling. It is thought the three would be released from the Bogota prison where they are being held once they have paid fines of about $7,000 each. But they will not be able to leave Colombia while the case is under appeal, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's office said.

Among the key issues in the trial was the reliability or otherwise of alleged former members of the FARC who claimed to have seen the three men training the guerrillas. This was strongly disputed by the defense who produced numerous witnesses who testified that they met or saw the accused men in Ireland or Cuba on the dates when they were alleged to be training the FARC.

The Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos faced protests and parliamentary criticism when in Dublin last month over the case and met with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen.

McCauley was given 36 months and 18 days, Monaghan 44 months and Connolly 26 months.

All three are obliged to 50 months legal salary as bail. This is the equivilent of approximately Ä6,000. The judge must decide then if McCauley and Monaghan will walk free as the men have only served approximately 32 months in prison on remand. Connolly has been in prison for longer than today's sentence and so will go free automatically.

Senator Mary White welcomed the ruling. She said: "This is a great tribute to the Colombian judicial system" that the judge didn't come under any pressure.

Sinn Féin North Belfast MLA, Gerry Kelly, welcomed the verdict but said there was a lot of anger that the process had taken so long

"Today's verdict...will come as a huge relief to the men's families and friends and to those who have been campaigning for their release for almost three years now. Despite the obvious collapse of the prosecution case last year it was never certain that the men would be released and sent home, there was always a concern due to the pressure on the Judge from the Colombian government and the military."

COWEN WORKING TO ENSURE SAFETY OF COLOMBIA THREE 

04/26/04 16:29 EST

By the Irish American Information Service

Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen said his department had been working today to ensure the safety of three Irishmen acquitted today on charges of training FARC rebels in Colombia. 

Cowen said he was assured that their departure from Colombia would be "facilitated in every way possible."

Cowen said he noted the judgment of the court and hoped the men would soon be reunited with their families whom, he said, had "borne the strain of their detention for such a long period."

The minister added: "I am grateful to the Colombian authorities for the assistance they have provided to our officials who have monitored this case closely from the start and have provided all possible consular assistance to both the men and their families. The department and the embassy in Mexico have been in close contact today with the Honorary Irish Consul and with the Dutch Embassy in Bogota, and also with the Colombian authorities with a view to ensuring that the safety of the men continues to be fully assured and that their departure from the country will be facilitated in every way possible," the Minsiter added.

Meanwhile a spokesman for the Colombian President, Mr Alvaro Uribe said the verdict underscored the separation of powers in the country. "The government respects the verdicts," said Mr. Ricardo Galan. 

The Colombian Attorney General's office has said it will appeal today's ruling. A spokeswoman for the Attorney General Luis Camilo Osorio's office said the men would not be able to leave Colombia while the case is under appeal. 

"Their lawyers will ask the judge to free them immediately and let them leave Colombia because of the high risk to their lives," a lawyer for one of the three, Jose Luis Velasco, said.

Far-right paramilitaries often target people they suspect of cooperating with the FARC.

"They have been used as guinea pigs in a political game involving military intelligence from the United States, Colombia and Britain," said Velasco.

The decision by Judge Jairo Acosta was a big blow to the government, which blamed the men for teaching the FARC how to carry out attacks including a mortar bombardment aimed at President Alvaro Uribe's inauguration in 2002.

Osorio said he was "surprised" at the rulings by Acosta, who decided both verdicts and sentences without a jury. 

The prosecution's case was based mainly on a combination of circumstantial evidence and testimony by alleged guerrilla deserters. The trial was carried out without a jury and Acosta decided both verdicts and sentences. Judge Acosta denied he was under political pressure to convict the men.