On December 13, the Court of General Jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash Administrative Districts of Yerevan promulgated the court ruling on the lawsuit, brought against “Zhoghovurd editorial” LLC – the founder of the “Zhoghovurd” newspaper – and its correspondent Sona Grigorian by the owner of the major holding “X-Group”, businessman Khachik Khachatrian. The matter in contest was the article “Zhoghovurd Newspaper Demands Public Apology from Khachik Khachatrian” (“Zhoghovurd”, December 22, 2012). The proceedings in the case were initiated on January 25, 2013, the hearings started on March 20. The businessman demanded to oblige the plaintiffs to refute the information, discrediting his honor, dignity and business reputation, as well as to pay him compensation equal to 3,200,000 AMD (about $ 7,600) of which 3 million AMD for moral damage caused by libel and insult, and 200,000 AMD for attorney’s fees. Previously the same court had rejected another defamation lawsuit filed by Khachik Khachatrian versus “Zhoghovurd” that contested the newspaper article “Famous Oligarch Fined for Selling Expired Eggs” (“Zhoghovurd”, December 11, 2012). The rejection of the lawsuit was substantiated by the fact that in the course of the litigation the facts of libel and insult were not proved (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, October 11-17 2013).
On December 13 the court qualified the businessman’s suit as groundless.
