数万名捷克人周日在布拉格集会抗议，他们指责政府试图扼杀媒体自由。
Tens of thousands of Czechs are rallying in Prague to protest against what they say is a government attempt to stifle media freedom.
组织者称，这场旨在维护资助捷克公共广播机构的强制性许可费的集会，可能是该国历史上规模最大的集会之一。
The gathering on Sunday to save the mandatory licence fees that fund Czechia's public broadcasters could be one of the biggest in the country's history, organisers say.
这将是对总理安德烈·巴比什及其由民粹主义、强硬派民族主义和欧洲怀疑主义政党组成的联盟的最新挑战，此前数周来，各城镇和城市已爆发多场示威，捷克电视台和捷克电台员工也举行了罢工。
It will mark the latest challenge to the prime minister, Andrej Babiš, and his coalition of populist, hard-right nationalist and Eurosceptic parties, and follows weeks of demonstrations in towns and cities and a strike by staff at Czech TV and Czech Radio.
抗议者表示，取消许可费并改由国家预算拨款资助广播机构的计划，将让部长们对新闻编辑室拥有更大的影响力，并效仿斯洛伐克、匈牙利、波兰和塞尔维亚的做法，这些国家现任和前任右翼民粹主义政府都曾削弱媒体独立性。
Protesters say the plan to scrap licence fees and fund the broadcasters from the state budget would give ministers more leverage over newsrooms and follow the example of Slovakia Hungary, Poland and Serbia, where current and previous rightwing populist governments eroded media independence.
组织此次示威的“民主百万时刻”组织表示，当局将看到反对力量的规模。“巴比什和他的政府显然认为他们可以为所欲为……可以无视专家、压制批评者，并把民主机构当作他们的私有财产，”该组织称。
The Million Moments for Democracy group that is organising the demonstration said the authorities would see the level of opposition. "Babiš and his government obviously think they will get away with anything … that they can ignore experts, silence critics and treat democratic institutions like their property," it said.
抗议前，该组织预计将有40万至60万人聚集在可俯瞰布拉格历史中心的莱特纳平原。电视主持人、这场运动最具辨识度的面孔之一丹尼尔·斯塔赫表示，一些抗议者将借此表达对政府更广泛的反对。
Before the protest the group said it expected 400,000 to 600,000 people at Letná Plain, which overlooks Prague's historic centre. Some protesters would be channelling wider opposition to the government, said Daniel Stach, a TV presenter and one of the most recognised faces of the campaign.
许多到场者戴着用报纸折成的尖顶帽，以此向一位动画角色致敬，该角色几十年来一直为捷克电视台的晚间少儿睡前故事节目做开场介绍。
Many of those who turned out wore pointed hats folded out of newspapers as tribute to an animated character who has introduced Czech Television's nightly children's bedtime stories for decades.
拟议的变革将把国家电视台和电台的预算削减约15%，引发国际媒体组织的强烈批评。
The proposed changes, which would cut state television and radio budgets by about 15%, have drawn fire from international media organisations.
欧洲广播联盟、欧洲记者联合会、无国界记者和国际新闻研究所也批评了政府的媒体计划，将其比作斯洛伐克总理罗伯特·菲科和匈牙利前总理维克托·欧尔班的有争议举措。亿万富翁巴比什去年重新掌权，他说抗议者正在散布关于媒体自由受到威胁的毫无根据的说法，煽动公众。上周，他发表了一篇社论，谈论反对派关于许可费散布的他所谓的“七个谎言”，这些许可费加起来每月为205克朗（7英镑）。
The European Broadcasting Union, the European Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and the International Press Institute have also criticised the government's media plan, likening it to controversial moves by Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico and Hungary's former premier Viktor Orbán Babiš, a billionaire who returned to power last year, said protesters were riling up the public with unfounded claims about threats to media freedom. Last week, he published an op-ed on what he called the "seven lies" being peddled by the opposition over the licence fees, which together add up to 205 koruna (£7) a month.
“任何谈论‘国有化’[公共媒体]的人都是在故意撒谎，”他写道，将批评描述为“歇斯底里的爆发”。“在任何情况下，我们都不会干涉编辑工作。”
"Anyone who talks about 'nationalisation' [of public media] is deliberately lying," he wrote, describing the criticism as "hysterical outbursts". "Under no circumstances will we interfere in editorial work."