Court tells Babiš lawyer to substantiate claims over Seznam

In a dispute over a lawsuit brought by the internet company Seznam.cz against Andrej Babiš (ANO), the Prague Regional Court on Thursday called on the Czech prime minister’s legal representative to substantiate the truth of some of his statements.

The firm filed the lawsuit over 12 statements which, it claims, the Mr. Babiš had used to damage its reputation. The PM’s lawyer told the court that the company was taking the statements out of context and that, in his view, some of them constituted legitimate value judgements. The hearing will continue in December.

Seznam says Mr. Babiš has repeatedly spread false claims that it had committed tax evasion.