Two former Armenians officials are battling it out in court in a slander suit.

So what’s the beef?

It seems that former Goris mayor Samvel Haroutyunyan got upset when Syunik former regional governor Souren Khachatryan called him “psychologically disturbed.”

So Haroutyunyan sued Khachatryan, demanding he apologize in the pages of shamshyan.com and that he pay 1,000 times his salary in compensation.

In turn, Khachatryan countersued, arguing that he had been maligned and demanding that the case be dropped as baseless. The former regional governor is also demanding to be compensated in the same amount.

At yesterday’s preliminary trial hearing of the original suit at the Syunik Regional Court of First Instance in Goris, only Souren Khachatryan’s lawyer, Martin Zilfougharyan was present.

(The countersuit of filed by Souren Khachatryan against Haroutyunyan is being heard at the Ajapnyak and Davtashen Administrative Court in Yerevan)

Judge Murad Hovakimyan noted that at the previous session defendant Samvel Haroutyunyan had requested that the case be examined in his absence.

The defense motioned that Samvel Haroutyunyan be give a psychological exam, arguing that the plaintiff suffered from mental disorders.  Defense lawyer Zilfougharyan claimed that there are many who know Haroutyunyan who affirm that he has peculiarities that only specialists can identify.

The judge rejected the motion as baseless.

Zilfougharyan then requested that the judge schedule another preliminary trial session in order for the suit to be modified after new documents were obtained.

The judge sustained the motion.

Photo: Samvel Haroutyunyan, Souren Khachatryan