IRISH DIPLOMATS have been in contact with their Hungarian and Croatian counterparts as the three governments seek to establish the circumstances of the shooting dead of three men, including Co Tipperary man Michael Dwyer, by Bolivian police last week.
The body of Mr Dwyer (24) arrived back in Ireland on Thursday night and a postmortem is due to take place in the next 48 hours. He was shot in the eastern city of Santa Cruz along with Eduardo Rózsa Flores, a Bolivian adventurer of Hungarian descent who held a Croatian passport, and Magyarosi Erpád, a Romanian of Hungarian ethnicity.
Authorities in Bolivia have alleged the three were involved in an international plot to assassinate the president, Evo Morales.
Diplomatic sources confirmed that discussions have taken place between Irish and Hungarian officials in Dublin, Budapest and on the ground in Bolivia. However, Hungary’s government is reluctant to follow Ireland in calling for an international investigation until Bolivia’s inquiry has been completed.
Croatian officials are in contact with Irish diplomats based in Slovenia, and with their Hungarian counterparts, on how to deal with the issue. Meanwhile, Garda sources said the postmortem on Mr Dwyer’s remains, due to be carried out by State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy, should address some unanswered questions around his fatal shooting.
The Bolivian police claim Mr Dwyer and the group he was with engaged them in a gun fight for 30 minutes. However, the men were in their underwear when killed and may have been sleeping during the 4am raid.
The postmortem should establish if Mr Dwyer was lying down or standing when shot and if he was shot at close range. Gunshot residue tests should also reveal if Mr Dwyer was firing a gun when killed.