- Czech police detained a Chinese spy accused of espionage for a foreign power.
- Prime Minister Babiš considers the case a serious matter and does not want to repeal the legislation.
- Minister of Justice Tejc from ANO, on the other hand, repeatedly defends the repeal of the law.
- Babiš criticizes the repeated extension of journalistic accreditation for the suspect.
- This is the first person in the Czech Republic to be prosecuted under the new section on activities for a foreign power.
According to Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, the detention of a Chinese spy by the Czech police, who subsequently accused him of unauthorized activity for a foreign power, is a serious matter. According to Babiš, canceling the new legislation on activities for a foreign power, as the government promises in the government’s program statement, is not on the table. He said this on Thursday at a press conference after negotiations with trade unions.
The Minister of Justice of the Czech Republic, Jeroným Tejc from the ANO movement, however, claimed the opposite shortly before, reports TASR correspondent in Prague. Babiš was surprised that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the leadership of ex-minister Jan Lipavský repeatedly extended accreditation to this person, and pointed out that it is necessary to ask about it.
“The detention of a Chinese citizen is, of course, a serious matter. I would say even more serious than summoning the ambassador or writing some letters. If it is true – and I assume it is – that this spy was a journalist, then it is strange that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the leadership of Mr. Lipavsky extended his accreditation three times. It is appropriate to ask how it actually works, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs extended this spy’s journalistic accreditation on November 4, 2025,” Babiš pointed out.
When asked if his government plans to cancel the new legislation on the basis of which the detained spy is now being prosecuted, he replied that his cabinet is not dealing with it now. “Regarding that law – I don’t have any information there now. We are not dealing with it now, it is not on the table. And we will see,” the prime minister told journalists.
The ANO movement announced the cancellation of this section last year with the argument that it is vaguely worded legislation that can be easily misused. The plan to cancel it was also repeated by the Minister of Justice for the ANO movement on the X social network on Thursday. He pointed out that the Supreme Court (SC) of the Czech Republic had many professional reservations about the wording of the paragraph.
“Even on the basis of the NS’s argumentation, the program statement of the government envisages the abolition of this criminal act,” wrote Tejc with the fact that acting in favor of a foreign power would then be punishable to the same extent as in the past, i.e. as espionage or endangering classified information.
The Czech police and the Security Information Service (BIS) announced on Thursday that criminal investigators detained a person suspected of espionage for China on Saturday in the Czech Republic and accused him of unauthorized activity for a foreign power. According to the police, this is the first person prosecuted under the new section.
