Protest in Prague over media freedom expected to be one of biggest in Czechia’s history

Hundreds of thousands of Czechs are expected to rally in Prague on Sunday to protest against what they say is a government attempt to stifle media freedom.

The gathering to save the mandatory licence fees that fund Czechia’s public broadcasters could be one of the biggest in the nation’s history, organisers say.

It will mark the latest challenge to the prime minister, Andrej Babiš, and his coalition of populist, hard-right nationalist and Eurosceptic parties, and follows weeks of demonstrations in towns and cities and a strike by staff at Czech TV and Czech Radio.

Protesters say the plan to scrap licence fees and fund the broadcasters from the state budget would give ministers more leverage over newsrooms and follow the example of Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Serbia, where current and previous rightwing populist governments eroded media independence.

The Million Moments for Democracy group that is organising the demonstration said the authorities would see the level of opposition. “Babiš and his government obviously think they will get away with anything … that they can ignore experts, silence critics and treat democratic institutions like their property,” it said in a statement.

The group expects 400,000 to 600,000 people at Letná Plain, which overlooks Prague’s historic centre. Some protesters would be channelling wider opposition to the government, said Daniel Stach, a TV presenter and one of the most recognised faces of the campaign.

The proposed changes, which would cut state television and radio budgets by about 15%, have drawn fire from international media organisations.

The European Broadcasting Union, the European Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and the International Press Institute have also criticised the government’s media plan and compared it to controversial moves by Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, and Hungary’s former premier, Viktor Orbán.

Babiš, a billionaire who returned to power last year, said protesters were riling up the public with unfounded claims about threats to media freedom. Last week he published an op-ed on what he called the “seven lies” being peddled by the opposition over the licence fees, which together add up to 205 koruna (£7.03) a month.

“Anyone who talks about ‘nationalisation’ [of public media] is deliberately lying,” he wrote, describing the criticism as “hysterical outbursts”. “Under no circumstances will we interfere in editorial work.”