On March 7, the Court of General Jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash Administrative Districts of Yerevan dismissed the suit of the former convict Razmik Abrahamian (sentenced for sexual assault against minors) versus the founders of “Aravot” (“Aravot Oratert” LLC) and “Haykakan Zhamanak” (“Dareskizb” LLC) dailies. As we have reported, the plaintiff contested the articles of “Aravot” (September 26, 2003) and “Haykakan Zhamanak” (September 5, 2003), which presented the court trial on the case of Razmik Abrahamian and described him negatively. The plaintiff demanded 2 mln AMD (about $ 5,000) as moral damage compensation for libel and insult from each of the respondents. On November 5, 2012, the Court took the lawsuit into consideration, even though the contested articles were published more than 9 years ago. The Court proceeded from the fact that in his suit Razmik Abrahamian had indicated that he was in prison for all these years and had no opportunity to challenge the materials at court. The hearings started on January 9, 2013 (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, January 11-17, 2013).
At the March 7 session, the Court dismissed the lawsuit. At the same time, it obliged Razmik Abrahamian to pay off the state duty of 80,000 – in proportion to the financial claims.
