Georgia's Minister of Culture Dismissed

On February 10, Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has approved of the dismissal of Marine Mizandari, the nation’s first deputy minister of culture and monument protection. This order to step down came after a meeting with the cultural heritage protection council on January 27 where Mizandari proposed to reinstate the heritage status of the Sakdrisi gold mine, a 5400-year-old mine in central Georgia that was previously protected under heritage laws, which were lifted in 2013.