A key prosecution witness in the trial of the so-called "Colombia Three", a deserter from the FARC rebel army, has refused to give evidence until he receives guarantees that his life and the lives of his family will be protected. From Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, in Bogota
Mr Edwin Giovanny Rodriguez, who is aged about 19 or 20, wore a flak jacket as he arrived in court under heavy security guard.
He had previously refused to travel from the town of Villavicencio because he feared for his life.
He was due to give evidence in the case of Mr James Monaghan (56), Mr Martin McCauley (40) and Mr Niall Connolly (36), who are charged with training the Marxist army of FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) in IRA bomb-making techniques and with possession of false passports.
The terrorist-training charge could carry a sentence of up to 24 years. The three are in Combita prison, outside Bogota, and did not appear in court.
Judge Jairo Acosta, who is sitting without a jury, told the witness on arrival that he was under no obligation to incriminate himself or his relatives. But Mr Rodriguez said he wanted to be sure his "human rights" (his safety and legal rights) would not be affected by appearing on the witness stand.
Dr Acosta assured the witness that both himself and the state prosecutor, Mr Carlos Sanchez, would ensure this. He said the witness had a constitutional obligation to appear and testify.
A representative of the procurator's office, which monitors the conduct of trials in Colombia, told the witness that the appropriate authorities would be contacted to ensure that everything possible was done to protect him and to advance his request to be placed in the state witness protection programme.
The judge said it was regrettable that Mr Rodriguez and his family were not placed in the witness protection programme in advance of the hearing.
He asked that the programme's office should "urgently consider" the situation. He said Mr Rodriguez was not entitled to be represented in court by a lawyer as he was a witness, not a defendant. The judge postponed the evidence of Mr Rodriguez until Friday to allow time for arrangements for his protection.
A defence lawyer, Mr Pedro Mahecha, said: "This is another delay with another excuse."
A second FARC deserter, Mr John Alexander Caviedes, had previously been given permission by the judge to give evidence in writing in the northern city of Medellin, because the authorities there could not afford to transport him to Bogota. This ruling is being challenged by the defence.
The second witness of the day, Capt Hubert Pullido, described how he arrested the three Irishmen as they were about to board a flight to Paris at Bogota's El Dorado Airport on August 11th, 2001.
He said Mr Martin McCauley appeared shocked when stopped by the soldiers and admitted that the name on his passport, John Joseph Kelly, was not his real name.
Capt Pullido said he had been receiving telephone tip-offs on a monthly basis from May 2001 that foreigners were in the so-called "clearance zone" of Colombia which was then controlled by FARC. He found this interesting because even journalists could not be in the zone without the permission of FARC.
As a result of information received that three Irishmen were travelling to Bogota from the FARC zone, he went to the airport on the day of the arrest to check their documents.
He did not have precise knowledge as to their activities in the FARC zone but the very fact that they were there gave rise to suspicions.
When stopped at the airport, the men claimed to be journalists, and one of them produced journalist's identification. Capt Pullido said he had no order to arrest the men, only to carry out checks.
Earlier, there was a dispute at the entrance to the courtroom when some international observers and campaigners for the three accused men refused to be searched by security officers from the Colombian prison service and insisted, successfully, that the search be conducted by police.