In Armenia, court obliges opposition newspaper to pay compensation to three MPs

On February 7, the court of general jurisdiction of the Yerevan communities Centre and Nork-Marash, chaired by Judge Karine Petrosyan, partially satisfied the suit of three Armenian MPs against the newspaper "Aikakan Zhamanak" claiming compensation for publication of untrue information.

According to the court ruling, the information published by the opposition newspaper "Aikakan Zhamanak "(Armenian Time) of October 14, 2010, in the article" Seven out of Eight on the List" is contrary to reality. The court obliged the paper to publish a refutation within one week after the entry into force of the ruling.

The publisher of the newspaper - the Limited Liability Company (LLC) "Dareskizb" - shall pay to each of the three claimants, namely, to Samvel Alexanyan, Levon Sarkisyan and Ruben Airapetyan, 2.44 million drams (1 US dollar equals to 362 drams) in compensation for the damage caused to their honour and dignity.

Let us remind you that big businessmen, Deputies of the National Assembly of Armenia Samvel Alexanyan, Levon Sarkisyan and Ruben Airapetyan filed their suits against the newspaper demanding 2 million drams of moral compensation to each plus 0.5 million drams to each to cover legal costs.

The above article reported, with reference to Smbat Karakhanyan, chair of the Moscow-based Armenian Club of Political Studies "Miabanutyun" (Unity), that the Russian law enforcement bodies were considering a list of Armenian officials and MPs - figurants of a number of investigated criminal cases. The above three MPs were on the list among eight officials.

According to the publication, along with Aleksanyan, Sarkisyan and Airapetyan, the list contained other figurants of the criminal cases considered in Russia: Alexander Sargsyan, an MP and brother of Armenian President; Gagik Tsarukyan, a major businessman and leader of the coalition party "Prosperous Armenia"; Gagik Khachatryan, Head of the Customs Service of Armenia, and other officials.

In November 2010, the Russian General Prosecutor's Office issued a formal response, noting that it had no information published by the Armenian newspaper.

Mr Karakhanyan expressed, in his talk with reporters, surprise, why the Armenian oligarchs had not asked him for explanations, but went to court against the newspaper. "If the court rules against the newspaper, it'll become clear that the court fulfilled a political order," he said.

As to response of the Russian General Prosecutor's Office, Mr Karakhanyan said: "The Office doesn't decide whether a person has committed a crime or not; only the court can do it. The answer is interesting because the Office does not report whether these individuals had committed the crime or not; it notes only that the GPO possesses no data that had been published in the newspaper "Aikakan Zhamanak" (Armenian Time).