Huge crowds of protesters demand Czech PM step down

PRAGUE: Huge crowds flooded central Prague on Sunday demanding Prime Minister Andrej Babis step down over allegations of graft in a protest that organisers and local media claim drew around 250,000 people, making it the largest since the fall of communism in 1989.

The 64-year-old billionaire was charged last year in connection with a two million euro ($2.25 million) EU subsidy scam, while an audit by the European Commission ruled that he has a conflict of interest as a politician and entrepreneur. The Czech government said earlier this month there were "errors" in the audit from Brussels and Babis has refused to budge.

"Judging from the aerial photos, it looks like we're about 250,000. We'll see how many more people will still arrive," said Mikulas Minar, head of Million Moments for Democracy, the NGO organising the protest, as it got underway.

Police estimates of the size of the crowd were not immediately available. "We're fed up with what Babis is doing, how he manages the country," Mila Stiburkova, a 39-year-old sales manager from the central Czech town of Sazava, told AFP. "We don't like him pocketing money and fooling people who trust him," added Stiburkova, who like many protesters, travelled to Prague for the event. Babis, the second wealthiest Czech according to Forbes, leads the centrist populist ANO movement, which, despite the controversy, won May's elections to the European Parliament.