Judge's dissent gives trio 'hope'

The three men have not been seen since their acquittal

Lawyers for the three republicans convicted of training Colombian guerrillas, have said they are hopeful that the verdict will be overturned.

It comes after one of the three judges who convicted James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley, questioned the evidence.

Judge Jorge Enrique Torres, said much of it was "questionable".

Catriona Ruane of the Bring Them Home Campaign said the Irish government must act on the development.

"We have always said that the December judgement was a political judgement - there is no evidence against the three men," she said.

She said they would now call on the Irish government to urgently contact the Colombian authorities.

"It is ridiculous that three men are in hiding, in fear of their lives, in Colombia. They should be at home with their families and they should have been home a long, long time ago," she added.

McCauley, 41, is from Lurgan in County Armagh, Monaghan, 58, is from County Donegal and Connolly, 38, is from Dublin.

The three had been detained at Bogota's El Dorado airport in August 2001 as they were about to board a flight out of the country.

I was overwhelmed by the countless amount of technical evidence used in this case that was questionable Judge Jorge Enrique Torres

Their arrest led to speculation that Irish republicans had formed links with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

The main charge against them was that they had been teaching the rebels urban terrorism techniques.

The Irishmen strenuously denied this, saying they were in the area to monitor the fledgling peace process as well as being eco-tourists.

The men, who had been accused of being IRA members, were found guilty in April last year of travelling on false passports.

They were acquitted of training Farc guerrillas, but the Colombian attorney general appealed against that decision.

This appeal was heard by a three judge panel in December, and overturned the earlier judgement.

Judge Torres' dissenting opinion was released by the court authorities in Colombia on Wednesday.

In it he said: "I was overwhelmed by the countless amount of technical evidence used in this case that was questionable."

Bogotan journalist Maria Ines Carrizosa said the judge had issued a 12 page "minority report".

She said that in his report he agreed with his colleagues that the men were guilty of using false documents, but he felt that none of the evidence gave a "certainty" that they had been training terrorists.

The men left jail in Bogota in June, after their initial acquittal, and went into hiding.

The Colombian authorities have said they believe the men have fled the country.