On September 12, at the Echmiadzin office of the court of primary jurisdiction of Armavir region, during a session on the suit of Marineh Gabrielian against “Ararat” regional newspaper to protect honor and dignity (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, September 1-7, 2001), the defendant, the Chief Editor of “Ararat” Karineh Ashughian, submitted a written appeal to the Chairman. The document represented a request to stop the procrastinating proceedings and direct the case to the RA General Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the main subject of the dispute, namely – whether Marineh Gabrielian has indeed kept an Azerbaijani prisoner of war at her house and sold him to his relatives after a while. In the defendant’s opinion only after the circumstances are clear one can argue whether this information as cited in the letter of 115 residents of Khachpar Village, which was published by the newspaper, is valid. Subsequently, it will become possible to determine how justified the suit to publish a refutation is.
Shortly, having returned from the consultation room, judge Vardan Grigorian voiced his decision: to satisfy the request of the defendant about the suspension of the proceedings and direct this part of the case to be investigated by the RA General Prosecutor’s Office.
