On July 10 court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan released the judgment on the suit of Ijevan municipality (Tavush region) versus “Investigative Journalists” NGO, the founder of “Hetq” on-line. As it has been reported, the case hearings started on September 29, 2008 at Civil Court of Yerevan. The plaintiff demanded to refute the information discrediting the honor, dignity and business reputation of Ijevan Mayor Varuzhan Nersisian – as seen by the city administration to be present in the articles “Whose Pocket Receives Money from Sand Mine?” and "Will the Three Commissions Notice the Illegal Use of Sand?". The articles were published in “Hetq” on May 5, 2008 and June 23, 2008, respectively, and also printed on May 20, 2008 and July 9, 2008, respectively, in the supplement to “Azg” daily, “Transparent Local Self-Government”. Besides, the plaintiff demanded that the expenses of 930 thousand AMD (about $ 3,100) made for the attorney services be compensated (see details in Yerevan Press Club Report "On Freedom of Speech in Armenia" for 2008 on YPC website: www.ypc.am , “Studies” Section). Later, as a result of judicial reform, the suit was transmitted to court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan, and the hearings were resumed on April 17, 2009.
At the session of July 10 the suit of Ijevan municipality was declined: the court considered the demands of the plaintiff to be baseless.
