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Five New Patriotic Party (NPP) activists jailed for murder in 2012 including one on death row have been acquitted and discharged by an Appeals Court in Kumasi.

Yahuza Yakubu, Habib Mohammed Dagbana, Majeed Alhassan, Shaibu Alhassan and Moro Gurdana were sentenced by a Tamale High Court presided over by Justice Lawrence Mensah over murder charges.

A member of the team of Lawyers for the five, Lawyer Tony Namo told Adomonline.com in an interview that the five were acquitted and discharged after the state prosecutor failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt after they appealed.

He said, the ruling of the three member panel - Justice Charity Irene Dankwa, Angelina Dometchiere and Justice P.K Richardson – also applied to the first accused, Yahuza Yakubu who was sentenced to death.

The five men were arrested in 2009 following a violent clash between supporters of the opposition NPP and the ruling NDC in front of the Tamale Central Market butcher house.

Rashid Alhassan, an NDC youth activist, died in the incident which resulted in the burning of 27 houses, vehicles, motorbikes and other valuables in Gumbihini, Choggu and other surrounding communities in the Tamale metropolis.

An Appeal Court presided over by a three-member panel of Justices on July 28, 2012 accepted to hear a judicial review application filed by lawyers of the five men, led by Nana Obiri Boahen, Deputy General Secretary of the NPP.

The other two are Lawyer Tony Namo and Former Deputy Minority Leader, Ambrose Derry.

The NPP activists have maintained their innocence right from their arrest till date and have described their prosecution as politically motivated, blaming it on the NDC government.

Habib Mohammed Dagbana, Majeed Alhassan, Shaibu Alhassan and Moro Gurdana were each sentenced to 36 years’ imprisonment by the Tamale High Court.

In the case of the fourth and fifth accused persons – Abdul Majeed and Imoro Gundana, he said the 3 member panel ruled that their sentencing was against section 285 of Criminal Procedure Act 1990, Act 80.

Lawyer Namo said the Lawyers for the discharged NPP activists are now working to obtain the court order and warrant to get the five released from prison.

“They were of course very happy after the verdict since they have spent more than 6 years in prison and their supporters were also in a very jubilant mood…,” he told adomonline.com