Epress.am News from Armenia
Local daily Jamanak (“Times”) and ArmNews TV have apologized to Syunik marzpet (regional councillor) Suren Khachatryan (pictured) for reporting news that was later discovered to be untrue, reports Media.am.
The article in question was published on 1in.am (Jamanak’s online presence), with the audio recording made available later, and portrayed a man being interviewed who was flirting with the reporter interviewing him (in this case a woman by the name of Ani Aghasyan), asking her to wear white lingerie and talk with him via Skype. The interview quickly spread in online social networks and even made an appearance on an ArmNews broadcast. All were convinced that the man seducing the reporter was Suren Khachatryan.
It later became known that the reporter hadn’t, in fact, interviewed Khachatryan. Aghasyan dialled the regional councillor’s number not as 093-xx-xx-xx, but as 094-xx-xx-xx and spoke with someone else (according to local daily Aravot, the interviewee was actually General Haykaz Baghmanyan).
Khachatryan has since filed a lawsuit with a Yerevan administrative court against Skizb Media Kentron LLC, which owns Jamanak, for damaging his reputation. According to the head of the Syunik regional administration’s legal department, Karlen Kozmanov, the regional councillor is asking that the information damaging his honor and dignity be retracted. No demand for financial compensation is noted in the lawsuit.
Khachatryan though hasn’t filed a lawsuit against ArmNews TV, which had cited segments of the scandalous interview in one of its programs. ArmNews, however, apologized to Khachatryan on Feb. 8, during its news broadcast.
Jamanak has since retracted the story.