The Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of the City of Yerevan has dismissed the defamation claim filed against the Public TV Company of Armenia.
The claim was based on the allegation that, during its main news broadcast, the Public TV Company, through its news anchor, referred to an official publication of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia and presented information concerning a criminal case related to the claimant. The claimant sought a retraction of the reported information and claimed 6,000,000 AMD in compensation for alleged reputational damage.
In the proceedings, AM Law Firm demonstrated that the Public TV Company acted in good faith and within the scope of its constitutional mandate to inform the public. The broadcaster relied exclusively on official information disseminated by the Prosecutor’s Office, without altering its content and without any intent to harm the honor or dignity of the claimant.
From the standpoint of Article 1087.1 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia, the legal elements of defamation were not established. Accordingly, there were no legal grounds for either a retraction or compensation for alleged damage.
The Court accepted the arguments presented by the attorneys of AM Law Firm as well-founded and rejected in full both the claim for retraction of the allegedly defamatory statements and the claim for damages.
