Epress.am News from Armenia
If a person is insulted, there’s no other way to restore his rights and dignity than going to court, said second president of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharian’s press spokesperson Viktor Soghomonyan, commenting on Kocharian’s suit against local daily Hraparak.
Recall, Kocharian is demanding 6 million drams (about $16,200 US) in compensation from the paper for sullying his honor and dignity. The article “They Destroy Kocharian, Explain to Tsarukyan?” published on Feb. 12 was the basis for initiating legal proceedings.
According to Soghomonyan, papers writing about the Kocharian family is nothing new and a lawsuit is being launched when the report contains obviously false information.
“Whilst this there’s been three court actions: there have been lawsuits against Haykakan Jamanak [“Armenian Times”], Jamanak [“Times”] and now Hraparak — obviously false information was printed in these newspapers. And if the words ‘bloodthirsty,’ ‘stilyaga’ and ‘a repulsive life buried in blood’ are not insulting for average people, well then I have nothing to discuss with them,” he said.
Speaking to journalists Thursday, Hraparak chief editor Armine Ohanyan had said that it doesn’t matter how much the media defends journalistic ethics and norms. “In one case, the judicial process is aimed at retracting the information; in other cases, it is aimed at the insulting, defamatory article. Moreover, by saying ‘insult,’ different people understand different things. In one case, the word ‘bloodthirsty’ is an insulting expression [see here], while in another, the word ‘stilyaga‘ is insulting [seen in Yerkir vs. MP Tigran Arzakantsyan].”
As previously reported, Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression (CPFE) Chair Ashot Melikyan had said he read the article in question and was unable to find any grounds for a libel suit.
“There are the journalist’s judgements, with which one can agree or not, but there are no distorted facts. This is simply an attempt at getting even with opposition media,” he said.