On March 10 th the Investigative Journalist of Armenia applied to the court of First Instance of the Kentron and Nork-Marash Communities seeking compensation for monetary losses suffered during their drawn-out yearlong legal proceeding. As required by the Civil Code, the Republic of Armenia (or the financial body acting on its behalf) must provide compensation for damages caused to a citizen or legal entity by the unlawful actions of state bodies or officials. The inaction of the Mayor of Yerevan cost the journalists' organization 308,300 drams, the amount they spent on legal services and costs.

On April 22nd the hearing in the court of First Instance of Kentron and Nork-Marash Communities began. It lasted ten minutes.

The defendant in the case is the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Armenia. The ministry's lawyer, Ararat Khachatryan, requested a postponement of the hearing, arguing that as the third party in the case, the Yerevan Mayor's Office should be represented in court. "We have to find out whose fault it was that the city did not perform its obligation prescribed by the law," Khatchatryan said. "Why should the state budget have to suffer because some official wasn't doing his job?"

Lawyer Ara Zohrabyan represented the journalists at the hearing. He briefly questioned the lawyer for the ministry, and agreed to the postponement. Judge Edik Avetisyan rescheduled the hearing for May 13th.

Meanwhile, the Investigative Journalist of Armenia has yet to set eyes on the documents in question, even though the Court of Cassation ordered the Mayor's Office to make them available on February 10th.