Anti-government protesters stage huge rally in Czech capital
People have staged a huge rally in the capital of the Czech Republic on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the so-called Velvet Revolution, which ended communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia.
Around 250,000 demonstrators from around the nation came to Prague’s Letna Park, waving Czech and European Union (EU) flags.
Letna was the site of the biggest rallies in November 1989, when communist rule peacefully ended in the country just weeks after the iconic Berlin Wall fell in Germany.
Many in the crowd chanted “we are here,” echoing the revolution’s protest slogan from 30 years ago.
The demonstrators also demanded billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis to resign over allegations of corruption.
Benjamin Roll, the vice chairman of the Million Moments for Democracy Association, the group that organized the protest, told media that Babis either had to step down by the end of the year or sever ties with his business conglomerate holding company Agrofert.
Babis’ critics say his current government position and the ownership of the massive company, which possibly does business with the government, create a conflict of interests.
Sunday will mark 30 years since the start of the student protests that snowballed into the Velvet Revolution and triggered the downfall of communism in the former Czechoslovakia.
The country is facing a “huge test” of the robustness of its democratic system, according to Pavel Zacek, a prominent figure of the 1989 protests who later investigated crimes allegedly committed under communism and currently an opposition member of parliament.
Babis’ reliance on the support of the Czech communist party to form his governing coalition, his past party membership, and allegations that he was an informant for the communist-era secret police, or StB, showed he was “unambiguously tied” to the former regime, Zacek said.
Babis is also accused of manipulating the ownership of a farm and convention center to win EU subsidies more than a decade ago.
In September, a criminal investigation to determine whether Babis had abused EU subsidies was shelved by Prague’s state attorney.
Babis has admitted to meetings with intelligence officers in the past, but denied that he had been an StB informant.
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