MEXICO CITY: The president of the Mexican Athletics Federation was released from jail after posting bail on Wednesday, three weeks after he was detained on embezzlement charges.
Antonio Lozano paid a five-million peso ($228,000) bond to leave a penitentiary in Mexico City, a judicial official said on condition of anonymity because she is not authorised to speak publicly about such cases.
The bail is about the same amount as the funds that Lozano is accused of embezzling.
“It was an injustice, but in the end Mexican justice has the last word,” Lozano said after leaving the prison shortly after midnight, according to Milenio television’s website. He said he would work on his defence with his lawyers.
Lozano was detained at Mexico City’s international airport on December 19 after arriving on a flight from the northern border city of Mexicali.
He was arrested following a complaint from the government’s National Physical Culture and Sport Commission (Conade).
Lozano has been in conflict with Conade President Alfredo Castillo, who has called the heads of Mexican sports organisations “criminals.”
The confrontation nearly cost Mexico’s participation in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. — AFP
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