On March 25 the court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash administrative districts of Yerevan started hearing the suit of Tigran Arzakantsian, RA National Assembly MP, member of Republican Party of Armenia faction, versus “’Yerkir’ Editorial Office” LLC – founder and publisher of “Yerkir” daily. The reason of the suit became the piece about Tigran Arzakantsian, appeared in “Yerkir” on January 13, 2011 within the column “131 Faces and the Masks” (the given cycle presents the Armenian MPs in alphabetical order). Tigran Arzakantsian had sent a refutation text to the newspaper, and since it was not published, he went to law. The plaintiff demands to refute the information discrediting his honor and dignity, oblige the daily to publish the court decision on the case, exact 3 million AMD (about $ 8,200) from the defendant as a compensation for libel and defamation, as well as compensate the court expenses of 568,000 AMD.
At the session of March 25 the party of the plaintiff specified the contested words and expressions in the piece, assessed as libel or defamation.
On March 26 “Yerkir”, upon its own initiative, stored an editorial on the front page, entitled “Refutation”. The daily refuted the words and expressions that insulted the MP. The editorial ended with a question: “Did you believe?”
The next court session is appointed on April 11.
