Judge considers Colombia case

The three men protested their innocence in court statements

The trial of three Irishmen in Colombia accused of training Marxist guerillas has ended.

Martin McAuley, James Monaghan and Niall Connolly are accused of training left-wing Farc rebels in the use of explosives and using false documentation.

The defence teams made their closing statements to the court in Bogota on Friday.

The men were arrested in August 2001 as they stepped off a plane from an area which was a stronghold of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

The three men had previously refused to attend the trial because of fears for their safety, but they protested their innocence in addresses to the non-jury court on Wednesday.

Under Colombian law, the judge could take from three weeks to several months before delivering his written verdict.

Mr McAuley's lawyer said on Friday there was no evidence to prove he was guilty of the charges, and criticised the way that the trial had been conducted.

He criticised the prosecution's star witness as "a swamp of contradictions" and compared the trial to the Spanish Inquisition.

He said the men's detention had been unlawful, as they were arrested by the military rather than the police.

Protests

Mr Connolly's lawyer said the constant protests outside the court accusing the men of being killers had put their lives in danger.

He said it would have been illogical for Sinn Fein or the IRA to send people to Colombia in the middle of the Northern Ireland peace process.

He also said it was not legal to bring the men to trial on false passport charges.

On Thursday, Mr Monaghan's lawyer said it was the "most ridiculous and absurd case ever to come before the courts in Colombia".

He said Mr Monaghan had dedicated his life to reconciliation and building bridges in the peace process.

Both the prosecutor and the solicitor general have called for a conviction in the case against the three.

Summing up the case on Monday, prosecutor Carlos Sanchez said that since 1998 there had been a massive increase in terrorist attacks in Colombia and this coincided with IRA members visiting the country.

He said Colombia had suffered under terrorism and claimed that a Farc grenade and mortar attack, which killed 21 people last year, was as a result of IRA training.

Mr McAuley is from Northern Ireland, while the other two are from the Irish Republic.

If convicted, the accused, all allegedly linked to the IRA, could face 20 years in a Colombian prison.