Three lawsuits have been launched against local daily Jamanak (“Times”), as a result of which 11.5 million drams (about $31,507 US) overall is being demanded from the paper, said the paper’s chief editor Arman Babajanyan, speaking to journalists in Yerevan today.<\/p>\n
“The first case is the lawsuit initiated by second president of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharian’s wife Bella Kocharian and son Sedrak Kocharian with a demand of 6 million drams; the second case, the Glendale Hills lawsuit, with a preliminary [request] of 3 million [drams]; and the third case is Tatul Manaseryan’s suit for compensation of 2.5 million [drams],” Babajanyan and attorney Nikol Baghdasaryan described the lawsuits in detail.<\/p>\n
According to Babajanyan, all this aims to cause the newspaper financial damage.<\/p>\n
“Robert Kocharian, during his term, personally prosecuted me; I was released. It doesn’t let him rest that today I’m the editor of a newspaper, and he’s also one of my targets. I’m neither going to retreat from nor be afraid of this work style of Robert Kocharian’s. I see elements of political vendetta here,” he said.<\/p>\n
Babajanyan described how during his time in prison, Kocharian’s security guards visited him and proposed he shut down the paper and leave the country.<\/p>\n
“In truth, I think that during this heated electoral haven, the trials won’t reduce; they’ll become more heated and will increase and the real aim is to shut down the paper. I have specific information that this is an order from the presidential [level]; here the ruling authorities have begun a planned fight against free press,” he said.<\/p>\n
Hayeli (“Mirror”) Press Club President Angela Tovmasyan asked why all this is being done at the hand of Robert Kocharian.<\/p>\n
“Why not also by the hand of Robert Kocharian?” Jamanak’s chief editor responded.<\/p>\n
Asked by Epress.am whether in his opinion, the current and second presidents of Armenia are together trying to shut down newspapers, the latter, contradicting himself said:<\/p>\n
“I don’t think such a thing; I’m saying that papers, which more or less have independence, are prosecuted through an order brought down from the presidential [level].”<\/p>\n
Babajanyan further noted that the amount the Kocharians are requesting is due to the fact that they consider this to be a model for doing business.<\/p>\n
“I ask how do they explain the 3 million requested for court expenses; they tell me it’s a business model. That is, they view the court as a place of business where they make money,” explained attorney Nikolai Baghdasaryan.<\/p>\n
In Babajanyan words, they, exhausting all possible options in Armenia’s courts, will be appealing to the European Court of Human Rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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