Peruvian mayoral candidate Daniel Urresti cleared of journalist's murder

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Daniel Urresti was a government minister and presidential candidate

A leading mayoral candidate in the Peruvian capital Lima has been cleared of murdering a journalist.

Daniel Urresti, a former minister and army general, was accused of ordering the death in 1988 of Hugo Bustios, who had been investigating rights abuses.

Prosecutors had called for a 25-year sentence. However, Mr Urresti always denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated.

The acquittal comes just ahead of Sunday's municipal elections.

Two former soldiers were convicted of his murder. One of them accused Mr Urresti - who was then a military intelligence chief - of involvement.

Bustios was a correspondent for the national magazine Caretas in the highland town of Huanta, the centre for the guerrilla war between government forces and Shining Path rebels.

He was shot and then killed by a grenade while investigating abuses committed by both sides.

Mr Urresti went on to serve as Peru's interior minister between 2014 and 2015 and ran for the presidency a year later.