The Board of the Seimas, Lithuania's parliament, has proposed to dismiss the director of the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre (LGGRTC), Adas Jakubauskas.
Jakubauskas was appointed to head the LGGRTC, which studies Nazi and Soviet crimes in Lithuania, last summer. The centre's employees have raised concerns that, under the new leadership, the institutions was succumbing to attempts to politicise its work.
Read more: Politicisation fears stalk employees at Lithuania's genocide research centre
“It is worrying that historical facts and truth could be pushed aside to implement goals that are not related to research,” an employee told LRT.lt anonymously last October.
Concerns were also raised that the LGGRTC leadership were hostile to outside historians, dismissing any criticism as personal attacks.
One employee of the centre, Dr Mingailė Jurkutė, was fired last October after criticising Jakubauskas publicly. Subsequently, other LGGTC employees have sent a public letter to the parliament, asking to address their concerns.
A parliamentary task group was set up, led by Conservative MP Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė.
“I proposed to the Board to put forward a proposal to the Seimas to dismiss the current director of the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania, Adas Jakubauskas,” Parliament Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen said on Friday.
“The reason is the director’s inability to ensure smooth functioning of the centre due to conflicts within the organisation,” she added.
The majority of the Seimas Board members supported the proposal, except opposition MPs Saulius Skvernelis and Andrius Mazuronis.
Skvernelis, former prime minister, urged patience, given that Jakubauskas had been appointed “less than a year ago”. He also suggested that the Interior Ministry investigate work environment in the centre.
Under the law, the director of the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania is appointed and dismissed by the Seimas.
LGGRTC investigates genocide, crimes against humanity, persecution of the Lithuanian population during the Soviet and Nazi occupations. It also initiates legal cases against organisers and perpetrators of genocide.
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