Prime minister fined for failure to get lustration clearance

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has been fined 10,000 crowns for allowing finance minister Andrej Babiš into the government without proof that he did not have an incriminating past from the era of former communist Czechoslovakia. The fine was decided by officials at Prague 1 district council. The government said in a statement Wednesday that Sobotka disagreed with the verdict and would appeal against it in the near future. One of the grounds of appeal is the argument that government ministers are not subject to the so called lustration process. Babiš is currently involved in a court battle with a Slovak archive and historical institute over allegations he was recruited as a communist secret police agent.

Author: Chris Johnstone