The brothel in Prague’s Holešovice district has lost its eviction battle with the city council, Mayor Pavel Vyhnánek has announced.

The Mayor expects that the owner of the space will appeal the decision, but has ‘no doubt’ it will fail. If the city wins, sex workers who perform there will have to vacate.

This decision comes after the brothel owners ignored out-of-court calls to evacuate the premises, leading the council to file a lawsuit. Eroc, the company which operates the brothel in Showpark, bought the lease from the building’s previous owner, Delta Center.

According to the city council, this isn’t legally possible; either they would have to apply to lease the space for prostitution which is a criminal offence, or lie about its function.

Eroc’s Managing Director, Zbyněk Matela, has previously argued that the brothel provides a positive function for the city and it’s closure would have ‘undesirable consequences’. In response, Mayor Vyhnánek stated that this dispute isn’t ‘ideological or moral, but legal’. He continued: “The whole problem was that ShowPark never had a contract with the city. We don’t want to, but even if we did want to, we can’t sign off on a lease agreement with the brothel operator.”

The municipality succeeded in evicting Delta Center in 1998, which rented the entire market from the city. They had to vacate the area and pay the outstanding rent, with accessories, of CZK 246 million.

In April, plans to use the Showpark brothel to quarantine homeless people were scrapped after the Regional Hygiene Station said the building is not suitable for long-term accommodation of high-risk groups.