The Government must investigate whether the Colombian decision to sentence three Irishmen to 17 years in jail was carried out according to fair legal rules, Fine Gael said last night.
Mr Jim O'Keeffe, the party's justice spokesman, said the Government should take up the case of the three men if the legal process was shown to be unfair.
"However, it must be an objective assessment. We do not need propaganda from the prosecution. Nor do we need propaganda from the Colombia Three's supporters here," he said.
"At the first trial, the major charges against these three men were dismissed. Under Irish common law that would be the end of the matter as far as the major charges were concerned.
"But it appears that the process in Colombia was different, the major charges were reinstated on appeal by the prosecutors and heavy sentences imposed," Mr O'Keeffe said.
"However, these three men were obliged to obey the law of Colombia and were subject to its judicial procedures. If the judicial process is found to be unfair, the Irish Government should take up the issue with the government of Colombia. If, on the other hand, the process was found to be correct, different considerations would arise," he said.
Fianna Fail's Senator Mary White, who visited Colombia seven times to see the men in jail and to witness the trial, urged the Government to raise the matter immediately with Colombia.
The three men had been in hiding awaiting the appeal outcome when they were acquitted of the charge of aiding terrorists: "They have not been in contact with their families since then."
The mother of Mr Martin McCauley, she said, was extremely distressed: "She has found the last few months to be even worse than before. She had been able to speak to him beforehand.
"If the Colombian authorities want to find them then there is little doubt but that they will find them. This is a very shocking, very troubling judgment."
