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November 16, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 2
Czech PM under pressure to step down over son's kidnap claim
a year tracking down his son's whereabouts. They then interviewed him in connection with the so- called Stork's Nest corruption case last week.
Babis was charged with fraud last year in the Stork's Nest case after MPs voted to lift his parliamentary immunity. The case is centred on a €2.3mn EU sub- sidy obtained a decade ago. Back in 2016, in advance of obtaining the subsidy, Babis said the Stork Nest's company and property was owned by his adult chil- dren and his brother-in-law.
Babis pleads innocence in the matter and says he does not see any reason why he should resign. He has claimed that his son is mentally ill and on strong medication, although the extent of the mental health problems of his son has been disputed.
The intrigue thickened on November 15 when local media outlets reported experts as saying that the PM’s son would have had to go through the most rigorous pilot licence tests that would have revealed the schizophrenia his father has claimed he suffers from. The chances that the son of Babis developed the illness at a later date than those tests took place were low, according to cited experts.
Babis junior was a transport plane pilot for Czech company Travel Service. Czech media reports out- line how in 2015, he had to go through a very strict medical check-up in relation to obtaining his com- mercial pilot’s licence. To acquire that licence, he would have needed to pass extremely demanding health tests, including psychological tests.
His minority government is run according to an agreement between his Association of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO) and the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD). To obtain the parliamentary vote of confidence that allowed it to come into power, the
coalition relied on the support of the Communists.
Babis met with political leaders on November 14 to explain his son’s testimony. He spoke with party heads including CSSD chairman Jan Hamacek, Communist Party chairman Vojtech Filip and the leader of the neo-fascist Freedom and Direct De- mocracy (SPD) party Tomio Okamura. "It is impor- tant that he [the prime minister] is able to tell the public all the facts. The more he says, the better," the Social Democrats said in a statement.
Okamura, who together with leaders of five other opposition parties actively called for a no-confidence vote a day earlier, offered to replace the Social Democrats in the ruling coalition. "I immediately used the opportunity because I can see there is some tension in the government," Okamura said. Okamura stated that the SPD could not join a gov- ernment coalition involving someone connected to an unresolved case like the Babis junior affair, but he suggested that his party's programme could be implemented by a government of experts previously proposed by ANO. Okamura agreed to meet again with Babis next week.
More than 50% of Czech citizens believe that the Seznam.cz report that broke the story is credible, according to a survey from the Median Agency, the Czech News Agency reported on November 14. They believe the prime minister has been trying to pre- vent his son from giving evidence in the Stork's Nest case in which Babis is accused of abusing his office by misappropriating EU funds for the benefit of one of his companies. Exactly half of those surveyed also expressed confidence in the reported claim from Babis junior that he signed the documents related to the Stork's Nest conference centre and rural retreat outside Prague without knowing what he was sign- ing.
Babis described the Seznam.cz report as a manipu- lation. “To film a mentally ill man, secretly and in this way, that is heinous and revolting. This entire campaign is only aimed at putting pressure on the investigators in the Stork's Nest case. It is also used by the opposition,” Babis said in a statement.