Police seek criminal charges against man who threatened to shoot Czech PM and family

Czech police have proposed that charges be brought against a man who made death threats against Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, according to Jan Lelek, the head of the Prague 1 state attorney’s office. The state attorney’s office is expected to make a decision on whether to bring charges by the end of the week. 

If convicted, the accused could be sentenced to jail time, ranging from two to eight years.

The accused, who was arrested in Barcelona by Spanish police, was extradited to the Czech Republic on the basis of an European arrest warrant. 

A Czech court remanded the suspect in custody, deeming that he was a potential flight risk and posed a risk of reoffending.

The Czech PM was questioned about the alleged incident on a CNN Prima News television program in February. “On January 8 the police informed me there was a man who threatened to shoot my family and me,” said Babiš. “Our house was guarded because of it. My wife went to Dubai. The man was arrested in Spain.”

Babiš’ wife, Monika Babišová, has been the subject of controversy for traveling to Dubai and sharing pictures of her trip on social media at a time when the government was urging everyone to stay home. 

Moments later in the same interview, Babiš gave conflicting explanations of his wife’s reason for travel, initially claiming that “my wife went to Dubai, because she was afraid” and then immediately contradicting himself by stating that “my wife did not know [about the threat]. So I sent her away.”