Namibian boxer arrested for rape will compete after release from jail
Namibian boxer Jonas Junias has been released from jail following attempted rape charges and will be allowed to compete in the Olympics, the Namibian Olympic committee announced.
Junias, 22, was arrested Sunday after allegedly attempting to sexually assault an Olympic village housekeeper. He was Namibia’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony. He attended a weigh-in Thursday morning and will fight Thursday night.
The Namibian committee wrote it was “proud to announce” Junias would fight on Thursday.
Their statement described Jonas’s situation as such:
Jonas was arraigned on 7 August 2016 after a complaint by a member of the cleaning staff was lodged against him. During a preliminary hearing in the late hours of the night on the same date and after Jonas exercised his right to remain silent, a judge accepted a formal charge of the offence alleged to have been committed by Jonas against him.
By virtue of the preliminary finding by the Judge Jonas was handed over to the correctional services of Brazil in Rio where he was to remain in custody pending the finalisation of the charge against him.
"I understand that both boxers have been released this morning. That doesn't mean that the legal process is over," Rio spokesman Mario Andrada said on Thursday, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
