Prague mayor calls on his deputy to resign over corruption case

Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib has called for the resignation of his deputy, Petr Hlubuček, in response to his being investigated by police over alleged corruption and mismanagement of the Prague public transport company DPP. The Prague deputy mayor is also on the supervisory board of the transport company and mayor of the Prague-Lysolaje district. He is among 11 people who were charged by police officers from the National Centre for Combatting Organised Crime on Wednesday in connection with the alleged corruption. Criminal investigators gathered evidence from Mr. Hlubuček's office at Prague City Hall and the offices of DPP, among other locations.

Mr. Hřib said that he had tried, so far unsuccessfully, to contact Mr. Hlubuček both directly and through his lawyer to call on him to resign, and would propose his dismissal at a meeting of deputies of the Prague City Council on Thursday. Vít Rakušan, leader of the Mayors and Independents Party (STAN), of which Hlubuček is a member, said that he assessed the situation as serious and that an online party meeting would take place on Wednesday evening to discuss it.