Court asks parliament to lift Babiš’s immunity in a subsidies fraud case

The Prague City Court has asked the lower house of parliament to lift the immunity of ANO party leader Andrej Babiš so he can be prosecuted again in a long-running fraud case, judge Jan Šott told news server Novinky.cz. Babiš regained parliamentary immunity after winning re-election last weekend. The Chamber of Deputies has already approved his prosecution three times in the past. Babiš has repeatedly called the case a political trial and said he will not ask to be released from immunity. The Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) movement, with which ANO is negotiating to form a government together with the Motorists party, has said it will not support his prosecution. The three groups together would hold a majority of 108 seats in the 200-member chamber.