Sinn Féin Assembly members Mr Gerry Kelly and Ms Caitríona Ruane, who is also the co-ordinator of the Bring Them Home Campaign, travel to Colombia today to meet the lawyers for the three Irishmen they say were "wrongfully convicted" of training FARC guerillas.
James Monaghan (58), Niall Connolly (38) and Martin McCauley (41) were found guilty in a Bogota court on April 26th of travelling on false passports but acquitted of the more serious charge of training members of the FARC group. Their acquittal was overturned yesterday on appeal and they were jailed for up to 17 and a half years each.
Ms Ruane said the men immediately went into hiding on their release in June claiming they were targets for right-wing assassination squads. "I do not know where they are at the moment," she said. "The last time I saw them was the night we took them out of jail in June."
A court in Bogota has now issued warrants for their arrest. Lawyers and campaigners for the men are considering an extraordinary appeal to the country's Supreme Court.
Unionists issued warnings to the Government not to seek clemency for the men and claimed their 17-year sentences proved Sinn Féin's unsuitability for government in Northern Ireland.
Mr David Burnside, the Ulster Unionist South Antrim MP, said: "This could develop into a major diplomatic incident.
"It will be a test of whether the Irish Republic really has turned over a new leaf in the fight against terrorism."
For the SDLP, Mr Alban Maginness said: "In our law, a person who is acquitted cannot later be convicted in appeal - and that is how the SDLP believes things should be in Colombia." Mr Maginness said the SDLP agreed with the Irish Government that the sentences were too severe.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, yesterday ruled out the intervention of the Government in the sentencing of the men. He said that while he believed the sentence "seemed very harsh" he stressed he did not wish to get involved in the business of criticising the Columbian judiciary.