Prague - The lower chamber of the Czech parliament voted today to strip Social Democratic lawmaker David Rath of his political immunity in a 183:2 vote.
Rath, a key politician of the opposition Social Democratic Party, is charged with taking bribes in exchange for manipulating some public tenders linked to EU funding.
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He was allowed to attend the chamber's session, guarded by three policemen, and give a speech.
Rath was not permitted to be accompanied by his lawyers though, contrary to a three-year old precedent. In 2009, the Chamber of Deputies had voted to allow the criminal prosecution of MP Petr Wolf (Civic Democratic Party). Wolf's lawyer Klara Samkova had been allowed to give a speech during the session.
Rath was transported to the Chamber of Deputies building with a police escort consisting of a VW van, two Skoda Octavia cars and four motorcycles. A police helicopter monitored the transport from the air.
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In addition to Czech media, the session was attended by reporters from Slovakia, Germany and Russia.
In his speech, David Rath said that the Czech Republic is "moving from the parliamentary (democracy) rather to a police democracy." He claimed that the charges raised against him are a form of political revenge.
"I did not take a bribe," affirmed Rath, adding that the money he received were for the election campaign of the Social Democratic Party.
His arrest was allegedly a "trap" orchestrated by Interior Minister Jan Kubice.
"It will be a political process, because your decisions will be political. You will make a political prisoner of me. Foreign media are already interested in it, especially those from Ukraine, it resembles the Tymoshenko case to them," said Rath.
