On November 14 Vanadzor court of general jurisdiction of Lori region started hearing the suit of Vano Eghiazarian, Elder of Lernapat village, versus Adrineh Torosian, Vanadzor correspondent of “Hetq” online publication (“Hetq” is involved in the case as a third party). The reason for the suit on the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation became the piece by Adrineh Torosian, “The Word “Graze” in Address of Village Elder Worth 1 Mln”, published in “Hetq” on August 23, 2011. The article reported about the court session on the lawsuit lodged by the same Elder versus his villager Gevorg Melkonian. The piece particularly told about the material compensation for libel and insult sought from the respondent. Meanwhile, according to Vano Eghiazarian, he had not made any financial claims in the suit. Lernapat Elder assessed the article by “Hetq” correspondent as libel and insult and demanded to refute the information discrediting him, bring apologies and compensate the moral damage of 1 million AMD (about $ 2,600), as well as the court expenses, the size of which was not specified. The case was taken into consideration on September 17. The next session will be held on January 13, 2012.
The abovementioned suit of the Lernapat Elder versus his villager is also worth mentioning, since another media appears in the case as a third party – “Zhamanak” newspaper, specifically, its founder “Skizb Media Kentron” LLC. Vano Eghiazarian had contested the critical opinion of Gevorg Melkonian made in his address in the article of “Zhamanak” of September 1, 2010, “Save Us From This Turk”. The plaintiff demanded to bind Gevorg Melkonian to publish a refutation of the slanderous expressions and apologize in “Zhamanak”. On July 8, 2011 the court of general jurisdiction of Lori region secured the suit. The respondent had contested the ruling at the RA Civil Court of Appeal, which revoked the complaint of Gevorg Melkonian in October 26, 2011, upholding the ruling of general jurisdiction.
Finally, the same Lernapat Elder appears as a plaintiff in another case where the third party is the founder of “Aravot” daily, “Aravot Oratert” LLC. The suit on protection of honor, dignity and business reputation of Vano Eghiazarian was lodged versus his villager Boris Ashrafian. On August 19, 2011 “Aravot” issued a piece “Who Slanders Whom?”, which reported about the protest action against the Elder, held by Lernapat villagers in Yerevan in front of the RA Government on August 18. The piece also cited the villagers’ critical expressions about their Elder, including the ones of Boris Ashrafian. The suit was taken into consideration by the court of general jurisdiction of Lori region on September 6, 2011. The court hearings started on October 31 and are now in the preliminary stage – for clarifying the legal demands.
