Affiliated media: Hayeli.am, News wesbite

Incident date: May 18, 2023

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Non-authorities

Source: Court Information System

Location: Armenia, Yerevan

Additional information:

On May 18, Veolia Djur CJSC filed a lawsuit with the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction against French journalist of Armenian origin Leo Nikolyan, Hayeli Press Club, and Live News Media LLC with demands to refute the video materials and publications containing defamation and to pay compensation. The reason for the lawsuit was Nikolyan’s statements, posted on May 2 and 14 on the YouTube channel of the news website Hayeli.am, that the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Armenia Ann Luo received bribes from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for espionage activities, that the management of the French Veolia Djur CJSC operating in Armenia is corrupt and cooperates with Ann Luo in order to strengthen the position of the director of the company in relations with the Armenian authorities. The journalist voiced the same accusations on May 4 on the YouTube channel of the news website Livenews.am. The lawsuit is being considered.