Supporters of the mayor of the capital marched in silence on Sunday to protest a legal case against him.

The protesters, with mouths covered by white masks, walked nine km across the city to express their support to Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, also a candidate hopeful of winning next year's presidential race.

While addressing the gathering, Lopez Obrador said he will return to his office on Monday, while prosecutors said the congress' vote has disqualified him from staying in office.

About 600,000 people participated in the march, according to the government.

The congress voted in early April to deprive the mayor of immunity from prosecution to face charges in an obscure land expropriation case.

The prosecutors last Friday formally charged the mayor with ignoring a court order to stop the construction of a road. But thejudge sent the case back due to a technical mistake of the procedure. The attorney general's office said it will refile the charges.

Lopez Obrador, who denied the accusation, leads in polls with asupport rate of 70 percent for the presidential race scheduled fornext year. But by law, anyone facing criminal charges is not qualified to run for public office.

Source: Xinhua