A Peruvian appeals court has overturned a criminal defamation conviction against a journalist who reported on local corruption. The court found that the decision against radio journalist Teobaldo Meléndez Fachín contained “substantial errors” in the earlier conviction. The journalist was given a three year suspended sentence and a fine of around US $11,000, after reporting that a local mayor had misused a government loan of over US $2m. Fachín reported that local mayor Juan Daniel Mesía Camus used the loan for projects which benefited his political allies.