Czechs protest to preserve TV license fee

 

TT

 

Published 11:04

 

Demonstrators in Prague on Sunday. Photo: Ondrej Deml/CTK via AP/TT

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Prague on Sunday against government plans to abolish the TV and radio license fee.

The discontent was directed at Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, with calls for him to keep his hands off the country’s media.

Babiš’s government proposes shifting the funding for the nation’s public service media to the state budget—a move that has raised concerns that these outlets could become dependent on political decision-makers.

A strike has been called at the broadcaster ČT. Members of the governing coalition pushed the proposal through during a special session in the early hours of Sunday morning.

“Only the mafia and the Soviet Politburo make decisions at 4:36 in the morning,” protest leader Mikuláš Minář said in Prague on Sunday, according to Czech media.

The Prime Minister defends the proposal but has indicated a willingness to engage in some discussion. He has dismissed the protest movement as inflammatory.