According to the executive director of Fair Elections, Nino Dolidze, after the appointment of Tea Tsulukiani as the Minister of Culture, the large-scale staff purge has been ongoing in various structural units of the Ministry continues, and at the moment, more than 100 employees have been fired from the National Agency for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage and the National Museum of Georgia.

According to Dolidze, on November 1, another wave of reorganization in the National Agency for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage ended, as a result of which 25 people became victims of gross violation of labor rights, hostile work environment and neglect.

According to Dolidze, over the past year, the National Agency for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage was reorganized twice. In particular, some of the employees were fired at the beginning of 2022, and some lost their jobs in October as a result of the second reorganization.

"Fair El­ections calls upon the Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth of Georgia, Tea Tsulukiani, to stop the illegal dismissal of employees and to bring the personnel policy of the Ministry within the framework of the law and good public administration.

"The saddest and most disturbing thing is that it is professionals who are fired, and this threatens the protection of not only these people, but also cultural heritage, because when professionals are fired, cultural heritage and the field in general remain in the hands of people who do not have knowledge in the direction. This is a very big problem. We will, of course, protect the rights of all those people who were illegally fired and we will be them to the end," said Nino Dolidze.

According to her, ISF­ED provides legal assistance to many persons who were illegally fired from various agencies of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth. The organization will continue to provide legal support to illegally dismissed employees and protect their interests in order to allow people with relevant competence and experience to continue working for the protection of cultural heritage monuments, museum exhibits and national treasures of Georgia.

source: IPN