Committee advises against prosecuting Babiš (ANO) and Okamura (SPD)

The parliamentary mandate and immunity committee has decided to advise the Chamber of Deputies not to lift the immunity of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) and lower house speaker Tomio Okamura (SPD) for criminal prosecution. Babiš faces charges linked to the Čapí hnízdo (a recreation and conference center) subsidy case, which he calls politically motivated. Okamura is accused of incitement to hatred over campaign posters. Both deny wrongdoing. Given the governing majority of ANO, SPD and the Motorists party, the outcome had been widely expected. The full chamber is set to vote on the prosecution requests at an extraordinary session on March 5.