After more than five years of proceedings, a district court in Prague ordered the Czech Republic to formally apologize to the news organization Deník Referendum for PM Andrej Babiš calling it “the worst lying cesspool that lies as it used to lie before” during a Q&A session in the Czech Parliament. The Czech Republic was also ordered to pay damages of 200 thousand Czech crowns (approx. €8,000) to Deník Referendum.

The judgment is not yet binding. The Czech state can — and probably will — appeal to the Municipal Court. Nevertheless, the ruling is widely considered an essential boost for the rights of the Czech media to operate freely at a time when they find themselves under growing pressure from the Czech far-right government elected to power last October.

The case started in November 2020 when an opposition member of parliament, during a Q&A session, confronted the then PM Andrej Babiš with an investigation published by Deník Referendum casting doubt on the explanations provided by official state institutions in connection with the poisoning of the Bečva river. Deník Referendum published a story documenting how the authorities had made many misleading claims while handling the case. The investigation especially exposed how officials went to great lengths to divert attention from the Deza chemical plant, located in the vicinity of the epicentre of the disaster. Deza is a large industrial complex belonging to PM Andrej Babiš's Agrofert corporation.

When confronted with the investigation by the opposition MP, PM Andrej Babiš chose not to answer the question but rather attacked Deník Referendum, claiming: “Deník Referendum is probably the worst journalistic cesspool around here, and it's lying again, just as it has in the past.” Several prominent Czech journalists from major media organizations, including public Czech Television and Czech Radio, wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister asking him to apologize to the journalists of Deník Referendum.

After PM Babiš refused to apologize, the publisher of Deník Referendum filed a lawsuit demanding a formal apology and compensation for non-pecuniary damage. It took over five years to reach a ruling in favour of Deník Referendum.

Czech libel law required the court to first determine whether PM Andrej Babiš's offensive remark was made in his personal capacity as a private citizen or in his formal role as Prime Minister. Once it was decided it was the latter — since he attacked the journalism of Deník Referendum during a parliamentary Q&A — the formal defendant became the Czech Republic, represented by the Ministry of Finance rather than by Andrej Babiš's personal lawyers.

The District Court for Prague 1 issued its original ruling in January 2024, dismissing Deník Referendum's lawsuit. Judge Dagmar Stamidisová held that PM Andrej Babiš had been acting within the scope of free speech and described his words as merely “sharp criticism.” Deník Referendum appealed to the Municipal Court, which could have overturned the district court's decision in what would have been a standard procedure but instead chose to cancel it outright, citing profound shortcomings in the original ruling and in the collection of evidence.

The Appeal Court stated in its ruling: “It is not legitimate if the statement was primarily motivated by a desire to harm the person being defamed, especially since the attack came from the prime minister.” The Appeal Court described PM Andrej Babiš's remark as an “attack on the freedom of the press,” adding: “The citizens of the Czech Republic have the right to expect that the constitutional officials they have elected will at least strive to conduct themselves with a certain level of decorum and civility.”

The case thus returned to the District Court in Prague 1, where it was assigned to a new judge Barbora Šumová, as the former one had in the meantime retired. The court expanded the evidence, including inviting witnesses from the newsroom of Deník Referendum to document what harm the Prime Minister's offensive remark had caused to members of the organization in their professional, personal, and social lives.

After hearing from reporter and deputy editor-in-chief Zuzana Vlasatá and project manager Veronika Staňková, the court finally reached a new ruling at the beginning of March 2026. While both sides are considering an appeal — as the publisher of Deník Referendum had originally claimed four times higher compensation — the judgment is generally considered a victory for the free press in the Czech Republic and was celebrated as such by many major news organizations.

“In our view, Czech courts need to take much greater account of the fact that attacks by politicians on the free media have serious consequences and must be adequately compensated. This isn't just about us; it's about the interests of Czech journalism as a whole. That's why I don't rule out the possibility that we will appeal. The compensation for non-pecuniary damage should be higher,” said Jakub Patočka, editor-in-chief and publisher of Deník Referendum, regarding the ruling.