IRELAND: Vice-President Francisco Santos of Colombia faced protests and a barrage of parliamentary criticism in Dublin yesterday over the case of three Irishmen charged with training FARC guerrillas and using false passports.
While a protest organised by the Bring Them Home Campaign was taking place outside Leinster House, attended by the singer Christy Moore, inside the building members of the foreign affairs committee were criticising the delay in reaching a verdict in the trial which finished in Bogota eight months ago.
The vice-president held separate meetings with Irish observers of the trial, who complained about excessive delay, and with relatives of the three accused men. He also met the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen.
Mr Michael D Higgins of Labour and Mr Tony Gregory (Independent) both expressed concern over statements by public figures in Colombia imputing guilt to the three men.
Senator Mary White of Fianna Fáil said she had attended several sessions of the trial: "I saw no evidence to prove that the men are guilty of the main charge of training the FARC."
Mr Pat Carey of Fianna Fáil said there was "empirical, objective evidence" that Colombia was very close to being a "dysfunctional" democracy. Mr Santos said he didn't accept this and that it was an offence to the Colombian people to say their country was a dysfunctional democracy.
Senator David Norris expressed his support for the "human, civil and legal rights" of the three Irishmen. However he hoped there would be "some explanation of what they were doing" in Colombia.
A relative of one of the three men was held back by a member of the Dáil staff as he tried to speak to the vice-president but, later, Mr Santos agreed to meet the family members at his hotel.