Affiliated media: Armtimes.com, Newspaper and online publication

Incident date: February 10, 2020

Attack type:

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

Who attacked: Non-authorities

Source: The Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression (CPFE)

Location: Armenia, Yerevan

Additional information:

On February 10, Artur Vanetsian, former head of the National Security Service (SNB) filed a lawsuit against the newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak and the site Armtimes.com demanding a public rebuttal of information considered libellous, removal of it from the article and the site Armtimes.com and restitution of non-property damage caused. The reason for the lawsuit was the publication on the site and in the newspaper of an article which claimed that while serving as SNB chief, Artur Vanetsyan, together with his supporters, organized a media campaign against the family of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The court took the case and judicial proceedings are underway.