Affiliated media: Shamshyan.com, Online news website
Incident date: November 29, 2025
Attack type:
- prosecution for violation of the honour, dignity and business reputation; violation of privacy following civil lawsuit
Who attacked: Non-authorities
Source: Judicial information system
Location: Armenia, Yerevan
Additional information:
On 29 November, the defrocked hieromonk Koryun Arakelyan (secular name: Armen Arakelyan) filed a lawsuit with the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction against the founder of the news website Shamshyan.com — Shamshyan Media LLC — demanding a retraction of allegedly defamatory information and compensation of 3 million drams (approximately $8,000). The lawsuit was prompted by a report published on 1 November, which claimed that between 2016 and 2024 a citizen had provided Father Koryun, a cleric of the Gndevank monastic complex, with approximately $29,000 and 2 kilograms of silver worth 1 million drams for the improvement of the complex and the manufacture of church items, but that these donations were allegedly misappropriated. The case is currently under consideration.