At the trial of three Irishmen in Colombia yesterday Dr Keith Borer, an international forensics expert, started giving evidence for the defence.
Dr Borer has been called to try and refute the forensics tests carried out on the clothing and belongings of the accused, Mr Jim Monaghan, Mr Martin McCauley and Mr Niall Connolly, hours after they were arrested at Bogota Airport on August 11th, 2001.
They are charged with entering the country on false documents and of training left-wing FARC rebels in bomb-making and urban terrorism tactics.,
Dr Borer yesterday told the court about his knowledge of IRA weapons technology and how, over the years, it had developed from rudimentary bomb-making devices to more sophisticated remote-controlled mechanisms.
Mr José Luis Valásquez, one of the defence lawyers, asked Dr Borer to explain how the testing instrument - commercially known as an Itemiser - used by the US embassy in Bogota operates. He said that while such an instrument may work well under normal circumstances, it was necessary to take special care under certain conditions.
He said the US Department of Justice has published a lengthy review of this instrument in which they say that sometimes "it (the Itemiser) may not be in good working order", and therefore it was necessary to calibrate it correctly.
He believes that the US embassy tests were incorrectly carried out and that the machine was badly calibrated.
He said the Colombian forensic science laboratory using more sophisticated techniques carried out the tests correctly. The men's belongings and clothes showed up positive after the US embassy tests while those of the Colombian authorities tested negative after several tests. The trial continues.