Prague Hit by Biggest Protests Since Velvet Revolution

An estimated 250,000 people rallied in Prague on Sunday to demand the resignation of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis in the country's largest protest since the fall of communism in 1989.

Claims by organisers that a quarter of a million people had taken to the streets could not be verified but pictures showed a sea of people in central Prague, many waving Czech flags and bearing banners demanding that Babis step down.

Babis is embroiled in controversy due to alleged conflicts of interest involving his former Agrofert conglomerate and a criminal investigation into fraud in connection with EU subsidies.

Demonstrators are also furious at the appointment of Marie Benesova, a longtime confidante of President Milos Zeman, shorty after police recommended that Babis be prosecuted for fraudulently claiming an EU subsidy worth two million euros.

Read more: Czech Prime Minister Digs In as Street Protests Swell.

Here are pictures from Sunday's demonstration, widely described as the biggest protest in Czech Republic since the so-called Velvet Revolution that ended communist rule in 1989.

Demonstrators fill the Letna plain in Prague. Photo: EPA-EFE/MARTIN DIVISEK

EPA-EFE/MARTIN DIVISEK

Photo: EEPA-EFE/FILIP SINGER

Photo: EPA-EFE/FILIP SINGER

Photo: EPA-EFE/FILIP SINGER