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28 I Central Europe bne December 2018
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis could lose his job over allegations he abducted his own son
Czech prime minister's son's revelations in the Storks Nest case could cost PM his job
Nelly Tomcikova in Prague
Czech billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) is facing a potential political crisis that could cost him his job, after his son Andrej Babis junior claimed he was lured to Crimea to stop him giving evidence in an alleged criminal fraud case known as Stork's Nest, news server Seznam report- ed on November 12. Two investigative reporters at the media outlet said they spent a year tracking down Babis junior to his current address in Switzerland.
Babis junior sensationally claimed that he was abducted and detained in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula so he would be unable to testify as a wit- ness in the fraud investigation in which his father faces damaging accusations.
He claimed he was forced to decide between “taking an extended holiday” in Crimea or being admitted to a psychiat-
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ric hospital. In Crimea he claims to have been forcibly held by two Russians, one of whom was a psychiatrist who previ- ously looked after him during his stay in a Prague mental hospital.
Babis rejected the kidnapping allega- tions, saying that his son is mentally ill, adding that he has been on medication and under observation. “It is not true that my son was kidnapped. He left the Czech Republic voluntarily. This matter
"It all seems to me to be quite a wild conspiracy. I have a regular meeting next week with Andrej Babis, so I will ask him, of course," Czech President Milos Zeman said. He also wished the prime minister strong nerves in the upcoming days.
Some 92 deputies representing six oppo- sition parties threatened to call a parlia- mentary no-confidence vote in the prime minister's minority coalition government. The fate of a no-confidence motion thus
“Babis rejected the kidnapping allegations, saying that his son is mentally ill”
has been investigated by the police, who came to the conclusion that no kidnap- ping had taken place,“ he added.
depends on the coalition´s junior partner, the Social Democrats, who urged Babis to provide an explanation.