After a six-week adjournment, the trial of the three Irishmen currently in prison in Colombia got underway here yesterday.
The men, Mr Jim Monaghan and Mr Martin McCauley from Northern Ireland and Dubliner Mr Niall Connolly, were arrested on August 11th, 2001.
They are being charged with entering the country on false documents and training members of Colombia's left-wing guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
At yesterday's hearing, Dr Laurence McKeown, a former republican prisoner and author, testified that he knew one of the accused, Mr Jim Monaghan, and had met him on two occasions in December 2000 and February 2001 in Belfast - dates that the authorities here claim he was in Colombia. Dr McKeown is the sixth and final witness for the defence.
Dr McKeown provided payslips and documents proving that the defendant had worked for the same organisation as Dr McKeown, a republican ex-prisoners organisation, Coiste na h-Iarchimi. The trial is expected to continue until June 20th.