The Colombian Attorney General's office has said it will appeal today's ruling that found three Irishmen innocent on charges of training left-wing FARC guerrillas.
A spokeswoman for the Attorney General Luis Camilo Osorio's office said the men would not be able to leave Colombia while the case is under appeal.
"Their lawyers will ask the judge to free them immediately and let them leave Colombia because of the high risk to their lives," a lawyer for one of the three, Jose Luis Velasco, said.
Far-right paramilitaries often target people they suspect of cooperating with the FARC.
"They have been used as guinea pigs in a political game involving military intelligence from the United States, Colombia and Britain," said Velasco.
The decision by Judge Jairo Acosta was a big blow to the government, which blamed the men for teaching the FARC how to carry out attacks including a mortar bombardment aimed at President Alvaro Uribe's inauguration in 2002.
Osorio said he was "surprised" at the rulings by Acosta, who decided both verdicts and sentences without a jury.
State prosecutors had asked for terms of up to 20 years in jail for the three men, who they said had been contracted by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, to teach bomb-making techniques.
The prosecution's case was based mainly on a combination of circumstantial evidence and testimony by alleged guerrilla deserters.
The trial was carried out without a jury and Acosta decided both verdicts and sentences. Judge Acosta denied he was under political pressure to convict the men.