Yesterday, Judge Varduhie Hovnanyan threw out the slander suit filed by Lernapat Mayor Vano Yeghiazaryan against Hetq reporter Andrineh Torosyan.
A decision in the Lernapat Mayor v. Hetq Reporter libel trial will be handed down on May 29.
At the March 23 trial in which Lernapat Mayor Vano Yeghiazaryan is suing Hetq reporter Andrineh Torosyan for libel, the plaintiff declared that since the defendant was a former student of his, the reporter had deliberately sought to defame him.
Yesterday, lawyers for Hetq reporter Adrineh Torosyan, who is being sued for slander by Lernapat Mayor Vano Yeghiazaryan, couldn’t make the court date in Vanadzor due to the snowy road conditions.
During the January 13 preliminary hearing at the Vanadzor Court, in which Lernapat Mayor Vano Yeghiazaryan is suing Hetq reporter Adrineh Torosyan for slander, the plaintiff changed his financial compensatory demand from 1 million AMD to a mere 1 AMD.
Regarding the case of Lernapat village head Vano Yeghiazaryan, who had appeared in court during working hours to represent the interests of another party, Hetq had made an query consisting of two questions to the office of the governor of Lori marz to inquire about the legality of this appearance.
Mayor Yeghiazaryan is demanding that Hetq issue a public retraction of the “slanderous and defamatory” information, publish an apology and 1 million AMD in compensation, including legal fees.