Peruvian politician convicted in 1988 murder of reporter

By FRANKLIN BRICEÑO
Associated Press

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A Peruvian judge has convicted retired army general and conservative politician Daniel Urresti to 12 years in prison for his role in the 1988 murder of a journalist who covered abuses during Peru’s civil war. Urresti was a military intelligence officer in November 1988 when journalist Hugo Bustíos was machine-gunned and blown up with dynamite in Huanta province. Urresti was accused of being part of a plainclothes military patrol that carried out the ambush to prevent the journalist from covering military abuses against civilians. Thursday’s conviction came in Urresti’s second trial. His acquittal in a previous trial was annulled by Peru’s Supreme Court in 2019. Urresti was a congressman in 2020-21 and was the presidential candidate in 2021 for the Podemos Perú party.