 North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?
US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty Anti-Empire >>
A bird's eye view of the vineyard
Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb
The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?
What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are
Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of
The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by The Saker >>
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony
Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony
Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony
RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony
Waiting for SIPO Anthony Public Inquiry >>
Voltaire, international edition
Should we condemn or not the glorification of Nazism?, by Thierry Meyssan Wed Jan 22, 2025 14:05 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?116 Sat Jan 18, 2025 06:46 | en
After the United Kingdom, Germany and Denmark, the Trump team prepares an operat... Sat Jan 18, 2025 06:37 | en
Trump and Musk, Canada, Panama and Greenland, an old story, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jan 14, 2025 07:03 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?114-115 Fri Jan 10, 2025 14:04 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
Trial of Three Irishmen in Colombia set to resume on Monday July 28
 national |
miscellaneous |
news report
 Friday July 25, 2003 12:30 by ec
Niall Andrews, M.E.P and Australian M.P Paul Lynch to join Observers
Niall Andrews, M.E.P will join a group of 14 international observers comprising politicians, lawyers and human rights activists from Europe, Australia and the United States for the summing up and hopefully final stage of the trial of Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and Jim Monaghan.
 The three men were arrested on August 11, 2001 and are charged with training the FARC and the use of false documentation. The trial began on October 4,it has adjourned on seven occasions with only 13 days of court.
Chairperson of the Bring Them Home Campaign Caitriona Ruane said ‘ the international observers are travelling to Colombia from three continents. The Colombian Authorities, by adjourning the court hearings, are expecting
that the observers will fall away. This has not been the case, in fact our delegation is increasing. We would like to thank the observers who have travelled previously and are joining us again and welcome our new observers, Niall Andrews. M.E.P, Australian M.P Paul Lynch, Trade Unionist Brett Gay, and Irish Trade Unionist Des Bonass, ’
‘We expect that this will be the final hearing which will last a week of the trial, that following this hearing the Judge should be making his decision. This is a deeply flawed case, no evidence has been presented to the court, prosecution witnesses have perjured themselves on the stand and have obviously been schooled by the Colombian Military. These three men should have been home with their families two years ago. "
List of observers attending the trial
BRING THEM HOME CAMPAIGN
Caitriona Ruane: Ireland. Spokesperson and full-time co-ordinator of ‘Bring Them Home Campaign’. Twenty years experience of working on human rights
issues. Latin America Development officer with an Irish Development Agency. Co-founder of the Centre for Research and Documentation – a human rights agency that made comparative studies between Ireland, Africa, Asia and Latin America and ways or resolving conflict.
OBSERVERS
Niall Andrews : (Ireland) Member of European Parliament, Fianna Fáil
Sean Crowe: (Sinn Féin TD). Irish parliamentarian. Dublin. Represented Sinn
Féin at the ‘Forum for Peace and Reconciliation’ and in the negociations that led to the Belfast Agreement (and the international treaty between
Ireland and Britain)
Senator Mary White: (Irish Senate). Former member of the National executive of Fianna Fáil (the largest political party in Ireland). An activist in the peace process she has worked for reconciliation between the divided communities in the North of Ireland. Mary was nominated to the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in November 2002.
Paul Lynch: Australia, Member of Parliament
Shaun Kerrigan: Australia. Lawyer with a background in trade unionism. He has practised in the areas of Human Rights Law, Industrial Law, Immigration and refugee Law and Criminal Law. Has worked in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, India, China and the former Yugoslavia on various legal projects.
Brett Gay: Australia. Trade Unionist, member of National Executive and Council of Trade Union Movement.
Steve McCabe: United States, Lawyer practising in courts of New York and Supreme Court. Member of Judiciary Committee or the Nassau County Bar
Association. Senior Partner in the Mineola New York Law Firm of McCabe, Collins, McGeough and Fowler (25 lawyers in this firm). President of the
Brehon Law Society and member of Irish Parades Emergency Committee.
Pat Fowler : United States, Professional social worker for 33 years, human rights activist.
Natalie Kabasakalian: United States, Court Attorney in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. Extensive training in international law and
human rights. Worked for Amnesty International USA as the Country Specialist on United Kingdom and Ireland. Has been active on the U.S. Rosemary Nelson Campaign for Truth and Justice. Member of observer delegation of the U.S.-based Irish Parades Emergency Committee (IPEC).
Pat Daly: Ireland. Criminal Law Defence solicitor, Dublin. Tutor in criminal law. Has worked as a legal researcher in Death Row cases, Atlanta, USA.
Ronan Munro: Ireland. Criminal Lawyer with extensive experience in defence,in habeaus Corpus and judicial review proceedings. Also acts on behalf of Director of Public Prosecutions in High Court bail proceedings.
|
printable version
Digg this
del.icio.us
Furl
Reddit
Technorati
Facebook
Gab
Twitter
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (18 of 18)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18hopefully they will be sent down for a long time.it will teach these terrorist types that violence is not the answer
Good luck to the lads. I'd say they're missing home at this stage. There'll be a few pints in it for them when its all over, no doubt, and I hope its over soon.
Excepting people with an anti-peace process political axe to grind, it is obvious to anyone who has been following this case at all that it is a show trial contrived to whip up paranoia and fear among the conservative Irish and Colombian body public. It's also a good stick for Trimble and the like to hit the shinners with and for the US to hit latin American opposition movements with. Two years ago the Colombian Attorney General was in the north of Ireland meeting his analogue, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), discussing legal frameworks for "combating terrorism". Presumably they exchanged tips on juryless trials, the admissibility of confessions beaten out of suspects, statements from paid police informers, supergrasses, torture, blanket arrest powers, internment, collusion with right-wing paramilitaries (and how to let state actors get away with it) extra judicial executions etc. Now, somebody should have arrested him.
Fair play to them for travelling/supporting these men but if Niall Andrews wants to see political show trials he should pay a visit to Green Street in Dublin where the word of a policeman is all that is needed to convict and cases have continued when the main "evidence" has been proven forged.
fair play to the lads in the rira, all they wanted to do was go up into the black north to engage the evil colonial british war machine.....
lets ignore the fact that they blew up thirty women and children?
These are not people. They are a disgrace to Ireland. No amount if SF spin can make people accept that Enniskillen and all that other crap was necessary.
SF are scum.
Never remember the principle, "Innocent until PROVEN guilty"
Never remember that they are detained on the same effluent-grade British Military 'Intelligence' that recently helped a Belfast-man get to know Israeli interrogation techniques more intimately.
The same lazy-assed MI5 bullshiters who plagiarise a student's PhD-papers off the Internet and try to sell it to the world to boost their insane Warmonger Bloodhound Master's sanctimonious lying.
But surely the GREAT, HONOURABLE and MORAL-FIBRE-SPITTING British Spy Agencies would never LIE to further their masters' designs?
No, rest assured - never, not since 1690.
Schalom, BlackPope
PS: I'm sure it will all turn out, as always, to be a 'quite simply ghastly' HONEST MISTAKE - all just part of growing up and being British, really, ho ho.
Rum luck, Chaps. Tally-ho!!
.. on Green Street the pompous bleating of any MI5-groomed and FBI-cornfed Yankee Tout who wanders in is more than enough evidence these days for a stuff'n'cuff band of BritWig Judges to fulfill their contract to the ample satisfaction of the UK.IE-Government(s), as McKevitt is now finding out the hard way.
Has espionage by foreign agents against Irish Citizens been legalised while I was asleep?
Please. The time for that is past. As for these characters, why don't you let them stand trial if you're so sure they're innocent then it should be blindingly obvious to the most biased jury.
I have tried to follow the evidence against the 3 Irishmen in Colombia, and it appears very weak. Few people in Colombia know anything about the trial. That's because reporting restrictions have not been lifted--hence there is no media coverage.
I don't know what these men were doing in Colombia in the first place. If they were trying to establish links with the FARC it was very poor judgment on their part. The FARC has nothing to teach the Irish peace process--too bad the FARC wouldn't instead try to learn from it.
As far as I can tell the only thing these men can be shown to be guilty of is travelling under false passports. That merits deportation, not years in jail. I am hopeful that will be the verdict of the court.
"why don't you let them stand trial if you're so sure they're innocent then it should be blindingly obvious to the most biased jury"
They aren't being tried before a jury.
Hanging out with FARC rebels? Surely they were up to something.
Mo Mowlam and Mary Banotti (as well as thousands of others) also visited the FARC run area. Do you find this suspicious?
Frankly if Mary Banottii did it then I do find it suspicious. BUt the head of the NYSE visited, as well as Vatican envoys and European royalty. Seems the only person who didn't get to visit was poor old Janus.
You are our ears and eyes in Colombia.
I don't know whether these gentlemen are guilty or innocent but, whether innocent or guilty, they deserve a fair trial
As does Mr McKevitt in the Special Criminal court.
As do the inmates of Guantanamo Bay
As do the Palestinian prisoners.
As do all prisoners everywhere.
I am fearful that in all of these cases evidence will be stitched up in order to get convictions.
And Yes, I do oppose, even hate, RIRA violence, Saddam's terror, all paramilitary and State violence, suicide bombings, war.
Hating violence doesn't mean you stop believing in human rights - (I'm amazed that I feel I have to say that, it should be so obvious, but previous comments here and elsewhere force me to say it).
Oh no seanin they were just bird watching.
Birds of a feather flock together. They were up to something nefarious, they always are. Never forget Enniskillen. The disgrace of our country.
.. why, when Robby and Spondeen squawk in chorus, does the word 'ChickenShitHawks' spring automatically to mind?
Spondeen, when will you get around to facing THE QUESTION?
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=60553
(go to 3rd comment)
Remember your ancestors' blood still cries out to be avenged, Spondeen - do not fail us!
Cowardice is no excuse, Spondeen - be honest with yourself, and us.