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Tens of thousands of Czechs gathered in Prague on Saturday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Andrej Babis, as the country marked the 29th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution that toppled the communist regime.
Crowds gathered in several parts of the capital to put pressure on Babis, a billionaire who faces criminal charges for alleged fraud in the EU grant dating back a decade.
He is suspected of abusing European funds to build the Stork Nest luxury farm near Prague in 2007-2008.
On Monday, Czech media reported that Babis' son was reported to have been forcibly sent to Crimea in order to foil an investigation into a fraud case related to his father's business dealings.
Some protesters have also accused the prime minister of collaborating with the secret StB communist police before the non-violent overthrow of the government in 1989.
"It is unacceptable that a person under investigation and a StB collaborator is the prime minister," said Mikulas Minar, head of the group that had organized a demonstration gathering about 20,000 people in the city center.
The protesters chanted "resignation" and "shame", and a wreath that Babis had tabled a day earlier in honor of the nonviolent revolt of 1989 was thrown Saturday.
The Czech prime minister will face a vote of no confidence on Nov. 23, but President Milos Zeman announced that he would rename Babis to office even though he was not succeeding in getting the legislator's approval.
At the same time, news reporters of the Seznam Zpravy news site recorded an interview in Switzerland with 35-year-old Andrej Babis Jr., allegedly abducted to prevent him from testifying against his father.
Babis Sr. stated that his son had schizophrenia, a claim that the latter described as a "lie".
The Czech Prime Minister promised on Friday that he "would never resign, never" before leaving to meet his son in Switzerland.
Demonstration in Prague against Prime Minister Andrej Babis
Tens of thousands of Czechs have called for the resignation of Prime Minister Andrej Babis (silhouette) because of a fraud in the EU grant
