ANO MP Hnilička gives up seat over illegal party

Milan Hnilička has announced that he is giving up his seat as a deputy for the ANO party in the Czech lower house after evidence emerged that he had attended a celebration at a hotel that contravened Covid-19 restrictions. ANO party chief, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, had called on him to accept the consequences of his action.

Mr. Hnilička, a one-time NHL ice hockey player, is the government’s special commissioner for sport and says he will wait to see the response from the sports sphere before deciding on whether to also resign as head of the National Sports Agency.

Also present at Saturday’s party were former prime minister Jiří Paroubek, ex-MP and hockey player Jiří Šlégr, and ex-MP Petr Benda, who owns the venue.