Fiji's High Court has found three executives of The Fiji Times newspaper and another man not guilty of sedition.
The four men, and the newspaper itself, were charged with sedition over a letter published in the indigenous language publication Nai Lalakai in 2016.
Written by one of the defendants Josaia Waqbaca, the letter accused Muslims of committing historic crimes including invasion, rape and murder.
Also charged were The Fiji Times' publisher Hank Arts, editor-in-chief Fred Wesley and Nai Lalakai editor Anare Ravula.
During a three-week trial the prosecution had argued the aim of the letter was to sow feelings of ill-will towards Muslim Fijians.
But in handing down his verdict, Justice Thushara Rajasinghe said, "the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the letter was seditious" and he acquitted all four men of the charge.
Outside court, Mr Arts said he was very relieved at the verdict.
"It's going to take a little while to sink in that I can get my passport back and that I can get out from under this stress," he said.
"At the end of the day that's a victory for the paper and also for media generally in Fiji. This is a bright day after two years of difficulties."
Last week a panel of assessors, made up of three members of the public who provide advice to the judge, also delivered unanimous opinions of not guilty against the four men and the newspaper.
The men were charged with sedition after a senior government bureaucrat made a complaint to the police about the letter two months after it was published.
Amnesty International has said the charges were politically motivated and designed to silence one of the few independent media outlets left in the country.
