One of the three soldiers standing trial in connection with the murder of Alhaji Issa Mobila of the Convention People's Party has escaped from military custody.

This came up when the case was called at a High Court in Accra on Monday.

Alhaji Mobila, a former Northern Regional Chairman of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), died in military custody just before the general elections in 2004.

Private Seth Goka is said to have escaped while in military custody at the Michel Camp in Accra.

Military officials told the court, presided over by Justice Senyo Dzamefeh, they could not establish the whereabouts of Private Goka who was expected to have been in custody with his two other colleagues, Private Modzaka Eric and Corporal Appiah Yaw.

The 16 jurors sitting on the case are said to have expressed shock at the news and the court instructed the military authorities to produce Private Goka on next sitting on November 26, 2009.

Joy News correspondent Sammy Darko who witnessed proceedings in court said state prosecutors, led by Chief State Attorney Gertrude Aikins, could file a motion to seek the confinement of the jury so their judgment is not influenced by public opinion.

But lawyers for the accused are confident their clients will show up on the next adjourned date.

The trial of the three brings to rest earlier calls on the NDC government to bring to book perpetrators of the crime.

Soldiers in Tamale had taken Alhaji Issa Mobila from the police after he had voluntarily turned himself in upon a police invitation.

Human rights activists have described the death of Alhaji Mobila as a politically motivated murder.

According to the Enquirer newspaper, already about seven witnesses, including a pathologist and a policemen are said to have arrived in Accra from Tamale, ready to appear in court to testify.

The newspaper reported that the trial is coming off after a long tussle between the Attorney-General and the military command for the release of the suspects.

Alhaji Mobila, who had campaigned for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2004 elections, was found tortured to death at the Tamale Kamina Barracks on December 9, 2004 after he had responded to a police invitation.

An autopsy performed on the body of the deceased revealed he had been tortured to death, with broken ribs, collapsed left lung and haemothorax, as well as many other visible injuries.