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On December 9, 2011, the Lori Region Court of Common Jurisdiction, presided over by Judge N. Avetisyan, rejected the claim by Vano Yeghiazaryan against Kamsar Tamaryan, for reimbursement of the damage caused to his honor, dignity and business reputation.

A letter by Kamsar Tamaryan addressed to the RA Prime Minister on June 1, 2011, served as a motive for Vano Yeghiazaryan to submit the claim.

According to the plaintiff, the respondent had labeled him a “criminal” in the letter addressed to the RA Prime Minister, which in his opinion, was slander and defamation.The plaintiff considers the following expressions to be defamation damaging his honor, dignity and business reputation: “Under the auspices of the authorities, the Village Mayor continued holding his office, concealing and eliminating the traces of his numerous crimes, and forcing many of the engaged parties to change their testimonies”. “He initiated criminal cases against the opposition activists based on false accusations and alleged defamations”. “He prohibits me to take my cattle to pasture, and he does not allocate a land for me”. “The village mayor approved the contract, but several days later he sent me the contract torn, declaring that my cattle could not pasture on the territory of the village. He would not allow that”, “He unlawfully changed the cadastre orders of the village lands, taxation standards, he initiated an illegal fundraising for gasification, gave permission for illegal mining, and used 10 million AMD allocated by the Governmentto install an electric transformer, which never worked properly as our electric equipment always burns and breaks down. The allocated money was embezzled,” Vano Yeghazaryan demanded that the court obligate Kamsar Tamaryan to make a public apology for slander, and pay 1 million AMD in compensation, as well as publicly retract the defamatory information and pay 2 million AMD in compensation, including legal fees.

In its decision, the Court stated that Kamsar Tamaryan’s letter to the RA Prime Minister was not a public statement; therefore, Vano Yeghiazaryan’s honor, dignity, and business reputation were not publicly damaged.  

The Court ruled to exact 56,000 AMD from Vano Yeghiazaryan on behalf of the state budget, as a state fee, as well as 80,000 AMD as a reasonable compensation for KamsarTamaryan to pay his advocate. 

The decision (in Armenian) of the Lori Region Court of Common Jurisdiction is attached.