Affiliated media: Hzham.am, News website

Incident date: October 14, 2021

Attack type:

• Prosecution for libel, insult, violation of privacy (1)

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Hzham.am

Location: Armenia, Yerevan

Additional information:

A criminal case was initiated in Ashtarak Division of Aragatsotn Regional Department under Article 137.1 of Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, which stipulates liability for «grave insult». The reason was the article «Age Limit: They Say He Has a Couple», published on September 30 on the news website Hzham.am. The publication noted that the Governor of the Aragatsotn Region David Gevorgyan and the Head of the Regional Investigation Department Samvel Simonyan are engaged in robbery, and, besides, «...». rumours began to spread in the region that the chief investigator of the region and the governor are secretly in an LGBT relationship. Many community leaders and businessmen avoided meeting with the couple...". As a result of the preliminary investigation, it was decided to terminate the criminal case due to the lack of corpus delicti.