Fears were expressed last night for the safety of the "Colombia Three" following their dramatic acquittal by a Bogota court on a charge of training the FARC rebel guerrillas, writes Deaglán de Bréadún in Bogota, Colombia.
The prospect of a further legal battle loomed, with defence lawyers seeking the immediate release of the three Irishmen in the face of opposition from the Colombian Attorney General.
The judgment has major implications for the political process in Northern Ireland. A guilty verdict would have been a further serious blow to Sinn Féin in the wake of the report on paramilitary activities from the Independent Monitoring Commission. The "Colombia Three" affair was also one of the principal reasons given for the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
James Monaghan (58), Martin McCauley (41) and Niall Connolly (38) have now been in a variety of Colombian prisons since August 11th, 2001, a total of over 31 months. Although cleared of the guerrilla-training charge, they were convicted and sentenced yesterday on a separate charge of using false passports.
There was some surprise at the fact that the three men received different jail terms for the same offence: Monaghan got 44 months; McCauley, 36 months and 18 days; Connolly, 26 months. In principle this means Connolly could be freed right away, with Monaghan serving a further 13 months and McCauley, five months.
However, a spokesman at the Palace of Justice in Bogota, where the verdict was announced, said that Judge Jairo Acosta had discretion to deport the men at a time of his choosing, without completing their sentences, provided they lodged a specified bail payment of approximately €6,000.
However, a spokeswoman for Mr Luis Camilo Osorio, Colombia's Attorney General, expressed "surprise" that Judge Acosta had found the men not guilty on the charge of training the FARC, which carried a sentence of up to 14 years. She said it would be appealed and that the men would have to remain in Colombia until the appeal process was completed.
But the defence lawyers indicated they would request the judge to free the men immediately and let them leave Colombia "because of the high risk to their lives".
Ms Caitríona Ruane of the Bring Them Home Campaign told The Irish Times: "We now have to go and do all sorts of negotiation. We have made a call to the Irish Government to make immediate representations to the Colombian authorities."
Senator Mary White of Fianna Fáil, who was making her seventh visit to Bogota to monitor human rights aspects of the case, said it was "a great tribute to the Colombian judicial system that the judge was able to remain independent of the prejudicial statements made by the politicians and the military".
Speaking from Dublin, a member of Niall Connolly's family said: "We are delighted that they haven't been convicted on the serious charge. Our strongest feeling, however, is that they are in intense danger at the moment. While we have always acknowledged the work by the Department of Foreign Affairs, it is absolutely essential that every effort is now made to get them out of the country safely. We will remain anxious and will not be satisfied until they touch Irish soil."
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said in a statement: "I hope that the men will soon be reunited with their families, who have borne the strain of their detention for such a long period." His officials were in contact with the Colombian authorities to ensure that "their departure from the country will be facilitated in every way possible"