Thousands of people took to the streets of Prague on Sunday to protest against the government's plan to restructure the funding of Czech public television. Protesters are demanding media freedoms, and the gathering in the capital's centre was organised by the civil initiative Million Moments for Democracy.
Those assembled carried placards with messages such as "Stop the government of arrogance and destruction" and "We do not want censorship back". Several smaller protests have already been held in Prague, Brno and other cities in recent days.
The right-wing, populist government of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš wants to abolish the television licence fee, and intends to fund public television and radio from the state budget. The proposed reform would include a reduction in funding of more than 15 per cent, which has triggered fears regarding the independence of public broadcasters in the country.
The bill passed its first reading in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of parliament, and was debated during an unusual night session. Czech President Petr Pavel criticised the government's haste to push the law through and warned that the process casts doubt on the government's intentions. Pavel said that the decision to debate the bill at night over the weekend undermines "faith in the good intentions of its proponents".
Pavel, a former general elected as an independent candidate, has clashed with Babiš over a number of issues. He emphasised that public television is a pillar of democracy and called for debate among the wider public and experts before any major reform.
Critics accuse the government of trying to turn Czech Radio and Czech Television into mouthpieces for the ruling coalition by making them financially dependent on the state. Babiš dismissed the accusations, saying: "No one is planning to interfere with programming or news coverage".
