The Supreme Court of San Martín in Tarapoto, Peru, voided a journalist's prison sentence for defamation against a local mayor, reported the news site Crónica Viva.
On Nov. 7, 2011, journalist Teobaldo Meléndez Fachín was sentenced to three years in jail for accusing the mayor of the area of Alto Amazonas, Juan Daniel Mesia Camus, of bank fraud.
In early March, the National Association of Journalists of Peru expressed concern about the court's decision, saying that the defamation complain against the journalist "was a type of reprisal, destined to terrorize" him and other journalists of the area so that they would discontinue their informative and investigative work, reported Crónica Viva.
After the court's ruling, the journalist said, “Justice was done and freedom of expression was respected," according to the newspaper Hoy.
