The Prosecutor’s Office asks to withdraw immunity to try the Czech Prime Minister for corruption

The start of a new legislature in the Czech Republic has given wings to the Prosecutor’s Office to resume its fight against the acting prime minister, Andrej Babis. The Public Ministry has asked the Chamber of Deputies to remove the politician’s immunity so that he can be prosecuted for the corruption case known as ‘Nido de la Cigüeña’, in which he is accused of having spent millions of EU subsidies on the construction of a recreational complex.

The spokesman for the Prosecutor’s Office, Ales Cimbala, recalled that despite having issued similar requests on two previous occasions, they had to submit another request this Tuesday due to the beginning of the new term in Parliament. In the absence of a commission appointed this Wednesday by the Chamber to deliberate and pronounce on the matter, Babis – one of the richest men in the country – has once again denied the accusations that weigh on him. In his understanding, it is a request for “political reasons” and not legal, he said at a press conference.

The case, however, has already been investigated by the EU Anti-Fraud Office, which certified “fraud” and “irregularities” in the destination of Community grants. Specifically, two million euros that were to be allocated to small and medium-sized companies and, instead, went to the construction of the ‘Nido de la Cigüeña’ recreational center, located about 50 kilometers south of Prague. For that reason, Brussels forced the Czech Republic to return the amount awarded.