Kristine Aghalaryan

Affiliated media: Lurer.com, Journalist

Incident date: June 7, 2017

Attack type:

• Administrative arrest, remand, pre-trial detention, prison
• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression

Location: Armenia, Yerevan

Additional information:

On June 2, Narine Abrahamyan, head of the local tax inspection service in Kapan, under the State Revenue Service attached to the Armenian government, filed a lawsuit to Yerevan Nor Norq and Avan administrative district courts of general jurisdiction against the journalist Kristine Aghalaryan, demanding to publicly retract allegedly slanderous statements and pay compensation. The reason for the lawsuit was an article published on the website "Lurer.com" titled “Meghri medical center vs. SRS”. The article noted that Abrahamyan had undergone internal investigations many times, but instead of being dismissed, was only subject to an administrative punishment. Later, after being appointed as the head of the Kapan local tax inspection service, she started to come to work under the influence of alcohol, behaved disrespectfully with personnel, and missed work without a reason.