The Colombian government is becoming increasingly nervous about the focus on the upcoming verdict in the case of the Colombia Three, it was claimed tonight.
Ms Caitriona Ruane, a Sinn Fein Assembly member and spokesperson for the Bring Them Home campaign on behalf of the three Irishmen who were tried last summer in a Colombian court for allegedly training FARC rebels, said the increasing focus of human rights activists on the case was making officials in Bogota nervous.
After a meeting with Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, Ms Ruane said: "I'm getting a sense that the Colombian government is getting increasingly concerned about its human rights image internationally.
"There is a sense that this case is being viewed as a test of Colombia's justice system.
"The delegation of people I have brought from Ireland and the United States has been finding that doors are being opened to us at the highest level."
Mr Niall Connolly, Mr Martin McCauley and Mr James Monaghan were arrested in August 2001 after they left a jungle sanctuary of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The three allegedly trained the rebels in terrorist tactics and IRA bomb-making techniques.
Their trial, which was conducted last summer, has still to receive a verdict.
Judge Jairo Acosta has attributed the six month delay in making his ruling to an overwhelming case load, but has said he hopes to make a decision by March.
Ms Ruane said tonight the three men and their legal representatives had been told initially that the verdict was due 15 days after the completion of the trial.
"It now appears that we could see a verdict in March," she said. The Sinn Fein Assembly member has been accompanied by United States lawyer Mr Steve McCabe, Fianna Fail MEP Mr Niall Andrews and Senator Mary White. Ms Ruane's party colleague, the Sinn Fein TD Mr Sean Crowe is also in Colombia. The delegation has met European Union ambassadors as well as the Vice President of the Supreme Court Judges.
They have also visited the three Irishmen in La Modelo Prison.