The Public Defender of Georgia is echoing the dismissal of journalist Lasha Meskhi from the Public Broadcaster’ news program Moambe, since he considers that the case may represent discrimination on grounds of different opinion or membership of a trade union.

As it became known to the Public Defender, Lahsa Meskhi was dismissed due to the expiration of his one-month contract. However, according to reports, out of 13 employees, whose one-month contracts have expired, he is the only one dismissed.

The Public Defender notes that the termination of labour relations due to the expiration of one-month contract and dismissal of an employee within the law do not rule out the possibility of discrimination. Short-term contracts are often used for firing employees on grounds of discrimination.

The Public Defender considers that at this stage it is unknown what the legitimate goal of dismissing only Lasha Meskhi was. In addition, under the conditions when a journalist refers to his different and critical opinion about the management and his active participation in the trade union, the Public Broadcaster has a responsibility to provide particularly weighty arguments and prove that the journalist’s dismissal had not been discriminatory.

The Public Defender will continue to actively monitor the developments ongoing at the Public Broadcaster.