On July 10 court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash administrative districts of Yerevan approved the amicable agreement between the members of “Jehovah’s Witnesses” religious organization and the employees of Public Television of Armenia, Gevorg Altunian, Sona Torosian, Nuneh Aleksanian and Edgar Davtian. On December 9, 2010 seven members of “Jehovah’s Witnesses” contested at court the information, which was aired on November 9, 10 and 11, 2010 in the programs of PTA First Channel, “Haylur” and “Tesankyun”. The pieces informed that A.T., inhabitant of Sevan, being accused for murdering his parents, is a member of “Jehovah’s Witnesses”. The plaintiffs demanded to refute the untrue information, discrediting their honor and dignity, and the business reputation of the religious organization, as well as made financial claims. The court hearings on the case started on April 13, 2011 (see YPC Annual Report “On Freedom of Speech in Armenia” for 2011 at https://www.ypc.am/about_freedom/ln/eng).
According to the amicable agreement, concluded between the parties, the plaintiffs refrain from their claims upon the condition that the respondent publishes a refutation. On June 5, 2012 PTA First Channel aired twice the information saying that the abovementioned accused A.T. is not a member of “Jehovah’s Witnesses”. The text of refutation was also stored on the TV company’s website.
