The trial of the three Irishmen accused of training guerrillas from the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), and of entering the country on false documents resumes at a Specialised Court in Bogota later today.
The three, Mr Jim Monaghan, Mr Martin McCauley and Mr Niall Connolly, were arrested as they tried to leave Bogota airport on August 11th, 2001.
They had been visiting the former demilitarised zone ceded to the FARC by the previous president, Mr Andrés Pastrana, in an attempt to facilitate peace negotiations. This week's hearing is the sixth time the court has sat since October last year.
A group of observers including human rights lawyers from Ireland, the US and Australia will attend the hearing at which the defence lawyers will put forward their witnesses. It is expected that Mr Paul Hill, one of the Guildford Four, will attend later in the week as an observer. Sinn Féin TD Mr Sean Crowe and Fianna Fáil senator Ms Mary White will also be present in court.
Speaking to The Irish Times at her Bogota hotel yesterday, Ms Caitríona Ruane, spokeswoman for the Bring Them Home solidarity campaign, said she hoped this would be the last stage of the trial: "We have to wait and see, and we hope that the prosecution finish with its evidence and the defence can finally start".
Ms Ruane visited the three men on Sunday and said that they were anxious, adding that their imprisonment was beginning to take its toll on their well-being.
The men have been moved several times between detention centres and maximum security prisons since their arrest. Colombia's notorious prisons are regarded as some of the most dangerous in the world.
Ms Ruane said that videos showing one of the defendants, Mr Monaghan, at workshops and conferences in Belfast and Dublin in February 2001, when two prosecution witnesses allege he was in Colombia, will be presented during the hearing.