Colombian lawyers representing three Irishmen facing charges of training left-wing rebels and travelling on false passports have held a news conference in Bogota.
The four lawyers said they were holding the news conference because they do not believe Jim Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley can get a fair trial.
They said that there has been too much political interference on the part of the Colombian government and also the United States.
The news conference was held just 24 hours before the opening of the trial.
The lawyers also say that they believe one of the key prosecution witnesses has been totally discredited and that the case should not go ahead.
The men were arrested at Bogota Airport 14 months ago and have been accused of passing on IRA bomb making-techniques to members of the FARC militia.
They have been held in custody since but have continued to protest their innocence.
In a separate development, it has been reported that a senior Irish diplomat will be called to testify at the trial.
Today's Irish Independent newspaper claims that the First Secretary of the Irish Embassy in Mexico, Síle Maguire, who has played a consular role in overseeing the prisoners rights, will say that one of the men was in Cuba for at least some of the time that the Colombian authorities claim he was with FARC.
The newspaper says she will be supported in the testimony by the former Fine Gael Minister of State, Jim O'Keeffe.
Meanwhile a spokesperson for the 'Bring Them Home' Campaign, which was set up to support the men, insisted that the court action should not be allowed to proceed.
Caitriona Ruane said the men's lawyers were very concerned that they would not receive a fair trial and that their case had already been prejudiced by public comments made by senior political and judicial figures in Colombia
