Five employees of the Adjara Public Broadcaster—Irina Kurua, Maia Merkviladze, Teona Kharabadze, Levan Uridia, and Salome Gegeshidze—have been dismissed, MediaChecker reports.
On June 2, the journalists received email notifications of the termination of their employment contracts—which, as they were told, was “as part of a reorganization.”
One of the dismissed journalists, Irina Kurua, believes that her firing is linked to critical remarks about “Dream” (the ruling Georgian Dream party) voiced on her author program.
“I knew for certain that such a decision would be made regarding my program, as it remained one of the few spaces on this TV channel where alternative opinions and critical assessments were voiced.
This is a continuation of the trend that the Adjara TV channel has been experiencing, where journalists with a critical stance and authors of tough questions have had their working opportunities gradually restricted, been demoted as a punishment, or dismissed altogether,” Kurua said.
Another dismissed employee of the Adjara TV company, Maia Merkviladze, stated that, in her opinion, her dismissal is linked to her critical attitude toward the Georgian government.