The municipality of the Armenian town of Ijevan yesterday dropped its slander suit against Hetq publisher Investigative Journalists NGO, but former Ijevan mayor Varuzhan Nersisyan insists the news outlet defamed his honor, dignity and business reputation and will press ahead with the suit.

The case dates to 2008, after Hetq published an article by Voskan Sargsyan, its reporter in Armenia’s Tavush province, entitled, “Who is pocketing the Profits from the Sand Mine?”.

The article exposed facts regarding the illegal extraction of from the White Water reservoir, built along the Aghstev River at the southern entrance to Ijevan.

 The municipality demanded that Hetq publish a retraction of the articles and pay pecuniary damages.

After a Yerevan court dismissed the claim, the municipality lodged an appeal. On November 13, 2009, Armenia’s Civil Court of Appeal sustained the appeal and remitted the case for a fresh examination.

The same Yerevan court then found in favor of the Ijevan Municipality and obligated Hetq to issue a retraction and to pay a total of AMD 952,600 for costs and expenses, including legal and court fees.

Hetq then appealed the decision. While the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal, it decided to decrease the amount of the award for costs and expenses to AMD 472,600.

In May 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)  published its verdict in the case of the Investigative Journalists (IJ) NGO v the Republic of Armenia, finding that the state violated the NGO's right to freedom of expression  

The ECtHR found that Article 10 of The European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of expression) had been violated.

The next court session is scheduled for May 20.