Czech PM candidate to face secret-police trial again
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Slovakia's Constitutional Court has ordered a lower court to look again at claims that the man who hopes to be the Czech Republic's next prime minister collaborated with the Czechoslovak communist-era secret police.
The court ruled at the request of Slovakia's Institute of the Nation's Memory, which holds parts of billionaire Andrej Babis' secret-police files. The institute said they contain evidence that Babis was an agent.
Babis denies that, and Slovak courts previously ruled that there was no proof for the allegation.
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Babis' ANO movement is a clear favorite to win next week's Czech parliamentary election, paving the way for him to become the prime minister.
Thursday's verdict returns the case to a regional court in Bratislava.
It could be a further complication for Babis, a former finance minister, after he was recently charged by Czech police with fraud linked to EU subsidies.