Details on the Case of Pashinyan vs. Postanjyan

The lawsuit filed by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan against the leader of the 'Yerevan Tsirani' party, Zarouhi Postanjyan, for defamation, has been accepted for consideration by the court. The lawsuit requires Postanjyan to publicly refute the allegedly defamatory information and seeks compensation for damages.

This was reported by the Judicial Information System. The claim has been assigned to Judge Naira Avetisyan of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction.

On March 26, 2021, Judge Avetisyan reviewed the application and supporting documents submitted by Pashinyan's representative, Davit Hunanian. It was clarified that on March 12, 2021, Hunanian had filed a lawsuit against Zarouhi Postanjyan and requested:

1. To oblige the Defendant Zarouhi Postanjyan to publicly refute the defamatory factual statements contained in a video segment in the following manner: to post a statement on the Defendant's personal Facebook page in an accessible and visible manner for at least five working days or in a printed media with a circulation of at least five thousand copies, with the title stating “I, Zarouhi Postanjyan, have defamed Nikol Pashinyan,” and the content reading “On 08.02.2021, in a video posted on YouTube titled ‘asekose am,’ I made statements about Nikol Pashinyan, accusing him of receiving payments for handing over territories and being an agent, stating that he was brought to power by previous authorities and introduced into parliament. I declare that this is not true, and I have defamed Mr. Pashinyan.”
2. To recover two million Armenian drams from the Defendant Zarouhi Postanjyan for damages related to the defamation contained in the video.

The lawsuit and accompanying documents were submitted to Judge N. Avetisyan on March 17, 2021. Considering that the petition and attached documents were presented in compliance with Articles 121 and 122 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia, it was decided to accept it for consideration.

Based on the above and guided by Article 199 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia, the judge has decided to accept the lawsuit filed by Davit Hunanian on behalf of Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan against Zarouhi Hamazasp Postanjyan for public refutation of the allegedly defamatory factual statements and for compensation for damages caused by defamation. The decision takes effect upon its issuance.