The RA Administrative Court in Gyumri has thrown out a legal suit brought by the Investigative Journalists (IJ) NGO against Gyumri Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan.

Hetq had brought the suit to force Mayor Ghukasyan and the Gyumri Municipality to turn over documents regarding the disbursement of several properties in the town, was known as Alexandropol, that used to belong to several local prominent families.

In a prior article, Hetq had covered the ongoing feud between the Gyumri Municipality and Irina Abadjyan, a descendant of the Drampyan family.

Mayor Ghukasyan and the municipality were not forthcoming with the information Hetq had requested and made a point to drag their feet on the issue. The IJ finally decided to take the matter to court in a "freedom of information" suit.

The court, in traditional legalese, rejected the suit and found that the Hetq request for information did not correspond to the legal definition of obtaining information.

Furthermore, the court argued that the municipality had provided evidence that it did not possess the information in question and that the IJ request was unfounded.

The IJ says it will appeal the decision.