Czech Republic lawmakers on Thursday rejected a motion to lift the immunity from prosecution of Prime Minister Andrej Babi� in a $2 million fraud case involving European Union subsidies.

The legislators voted 104-81 to dismiss the measure in the 200-seat lower house of Parliament, with one abstention and 14 lawmakers absent.

Approval would have allowed Prague�s Municipal Court to deal with the case and issue a verdict. The court had acquitted Babi� twice before, but an appeals court canceled those rulings, saying they didn’t properly assess evidence and requested the lower court to issue a guilty verdict in a retrial.

The rejection of the motion means that he can stand trial only after his term in the house expires in 2029.

Babi� had pleaded not guilty and said that the case �is clearly politically motivated.� The prosecution had originally requested a suspended sentence and a fine to be paid by the populist billionaire, who began his third term as prime minister in December.

The case centered around a farm known as the Stork�s Nest, which received EU subsidies after its ownership was transferred from the Babi�-owned Agrofert conglomerate to Babi�� family members. Later, Agrofert again took ownership of the farm.

The subsidies were meant for small- and medium-sized enterprises, meaning that Agrofert wouldn�t have been eligible. The conglomerate later returned the subsidy.

Babi�� former associate Jana Nagyov�, who signed the subsidy request, will face retrial. She is currently a member of European Parliament, which has already lifted her immunity.

Babi� returned to power after his ANO, or YES, movement won big in an October election, forming a governing coalition with two small political groups, the Freedom and Direct Democracy anti-migrant party and the right-wing Motorists.

His government has a majority in the lower house.

The coalition�s agenda includes steering the country away from supporting Ukraine and rejecting some key EU policies.

In a separate case, lawmakers also refused to agree to allow prosecution of lower house speaker Tomio Okamura, the head of the Freedom party, on inciting hatred charges.

(AP)