Lower house committee votes to strip MP Rath of immunity

The parliamentary immunity and mandate committee on Tuesday unanimously voted to recommend to the lower house that MP David Rath be stripped of his immunity and prosecuted. The vote took place after members of the committee heard the testimony from Mr Rath who is under arrest on suspicion of corruption; the hearing was held in an Interior Ministry facility in Prague and lasted for about two hours. Mr Rath’s request to be heard in Parliament was rejected while members of the committee also refused to go to the prison. Mr Rath was arrested last week with an alleged bribe of seven million crowns linked to a public procurement project partly financed by EU funds. The lower house is set to vote on Mr Rath’s immunity at its next session in early June.