The two lawsuits against “Hraparak” daily ended with the defeat of the plaintiffs. LGBT community supporter Ashot Mkrtich Gevorgyan, who following transgender woman Lilit Martirosyan’s NA speech suggested to “burn”, “slaughter”and “expel” PAP MP, Chairwoman of the NA Committee on Human Rights Naira Zohrabyan, lost in the first case. In the article published in Hraparak daily, the LGBT community supporter saw insult and slander, meanwhile the court decided there was no such thing.
As far as the second case is concerned, the chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security Andranik Kocharyan, who is in a court dispute because of an article published on March 14, 2019, called “Who is Andranik Kocharyan actually?”, where the news agency recalled Kocharyan’s years of working in Gyumri. The author of the articles is Hasmik Melkonyan, a journalist from Gyumri. The court found that in this case Hraparak daily “referred to the source of the information, that is to the author, Hasmik Melkonyan, which according to the Article 687.1 of the RA Civil Code is a ground for dismissal from responsibility for insult or defamation”, therefore the lawsuit filed against Hraparak daily LLC is unfounded and subject to rejection, which means that the assessment of the insulting and defamatory nature of the statements contained in the article and other facts included in the subject matter of the evidence published in the article are no longer objective.”
“Media Advocate” initiative congratulates the “Hraparak” editorial staff on their victories, the free press and free speech will continue to exist and convey the truth to the public as long as the media does not retreat from such attacks.
