August 23 is the date set for the slander trial brought by Rector Gurgen Khachatryan against an Armenian language teacher that he dismissed at the Vanadzor Hovhannes Tumanyan Pedagogical Institute.

Hetq has been named a third party litigant in the case based on an artcicle it published on May 13 entitled "Unhealthy Passions at the Vanadzor Pedagogical Institute".

Also named as a litigant in the case is the ATV television station. It ran a program on June 15 that included Lusineh Ashoughyan, the defendant, making statements that have been labeled as "slanderous" according to Rector Khachatryan.

Ashoughyan had been dismissed from her job, allegedly because her contract had expired.

Khachatryan is demanding that the court obligate the teacher to make a public retraction of her statement and to have her pay 2 million AMD for the legal expenses he has incurred.

The case will be heard in the town of Alaverdi even though the law stipulates that the case be heard in the defendant's place of residence. Ashoughyan is officially registered as a resident of Vanadzor.

The May 13 Hetq article reported that two Armenian language teachers at the Institute, Lusineh Ashoughyan and Lusineh Sargsyan, had gone to the police testifying that one had received death threats and that the other had been falsely testified against.

The courts refused to press criminal charges in both.