The Colombian government is growing nervous about the verdict in the case of three Irish republicans accused of training Marxist rebels, it was claimed last night.
Ms Caitriona Ruane, a Sinn Féin Assembly member and spokesperson for the Bring Them Home campaign, said the increasing focus of human rights activists on the case was causing Bogota concern about its international image.
Mr Niall Connolly, Mr Martin McCauley and Mr James Monaghan were arrested in August 2001 after they left a jungle sanctuary of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The three are charged with training the rebels in terrorist tactics and bomb-making techniques.
After meeting Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, Ms Ruane said: "There is a sense that this case is being viewed as a test of Colombia's justice system.
"The delegation of people I have brought from Ireland and the United States has been finding that doors are being opened to us at the highest level."
The verdict and the trial, which finally got under way last summer, has been delayed several times.
Judge Jairo Acosta has attributed the six-month delay in making his ruling to an overwhelming case load, but has said he hopes to make a decision by March.
Ms Ruane claimed last night that the three men and their legal representatives had been told initially that the verdict was due 15 days after the completion of the trial.
The delegation included MEP Niall Andrews and Senator Mary White, both of Fianna Fáil; Sinn Féin TD Sean Crowe; and United States human rights lawyer Mr Steve McCabe. The delegation has met European Union ambassadors as well as the Vice President of the Supreme Court Judges.
They have also visited the three Irishmen in the notorious La Modelo Prison.
PA