An appeals court in Somalia’s stable northern Puntland State has released three men convicted by a criminal court of killing a member of the Puntland parliament, Radio Garowe reports.

The First Degree Court of Nugal region in Puntland convicted one of the defendants of killing Puntland MP Ibrahim Elmi Gaab and sentenced him to serve 20 years in prison.

The same court convicted the other two men of accomplice to murder and sentenced each to 10 years in prison.

But the case was appealed and the Nugal Appeals Court ruled that the case against the three men lacked evidence and ordered the three men to be freed on condition of 50 swears each on the Noble Qu’ran, Islam’s holy book, as required by Islamic law.

Sheikh Said, the Nugal Appeals Court judge, then ruled the three men to be released today in the presence of the victim’s families, the defendants’ families, as well as the attorney-general and independent lawyers.

The case has gathered lots of interests in Puntland, where the government is investigating a series of killings against government officials including lawmakers and judges.

Puntland's government has blamed the unprecedented targeted assassinations on violent groups in southern Somalia like Al Shabaab who are fighting to the overthrow the UN-recognized Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu.

GAROWE ONLINE