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Armenian newspapers threatened by libel suits with sky-high damages

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  • Armenian newspapers threatened by libel suits with sky-high damages

    Reporters Without Borders, France
    May 1 2011


    Armenian newspapers threatened by libel suits with sky-high damages awards

    Published on Sunday 1 May 2011.

    Reporters Without Borders is concerned about all the libel actions
    being brought against Armenian newspapers and the disproportionate
    damages being demanded, which threaten their survival and create a
    climate that encourages self-censorship. This tendency to use lawsuits
    to throttle news media must be reined in.

    The repeal of jail sentences for libel and slander in April 2010 was
    hailed as a democratic advance but judicial harassment of the media
    continues. There were 12 defamation actions during the first quarter
    of 2011 alone. Independent newspapers are the leading targets. The
    daily Jamanak is currently the subject of three different lawsuits.
    Haykakan Jamanak and Hraparak are also being sued.

    In most cases the plaintiffs are politicians. On 18 April, Armenia's
    highest appeal court ordered the news website Hetq, founded by the NGO
    Investigative Journalists, to pay Ijevan mayor Tavush Marz 450,000
    drams (820 euros) in damages and publish a retraction. The suit was
    brought over a series of articles about embezzlement by local
    officials. Having exhausted all possibilities of appeal in Armenia,
    the NGO says it will take the case to the European Court of Human
    Rights.

    Former president Robert Kocharian's family are frequent plaintiffs.
    His wife, Bella Kocharian, and son, Sedrak Kocharian, are suing
    Jamanak for 6 million drams (11,000 euros) over a September 2011
    article implicating them in an alleged case of embezzlement. The
    newspaper Haykakan Jamanak has already been ordered to pay Levon
    Kocharian 3.5 million drams (6,400 euros) in damages.

    The former president himself recently sued Hraparak over a 2 February
    article describing him as `bloodthirsty' and subject to `fits of
    madness.' While there may have been grounds for a libel action, there
    were certainly no grounds for his request for a freeze on the
    newspaper's assets, which was granted at the first hearing.

    The order was rescinded on 11 April, but the former president's action
    is still dangerous inasmuch as it suggest that the real of goal of
    defamation suits is to bankrupt independent media. The OSCE, to which
    Armenia belongs, has a clear position on this: `The amount of the fine
    should not reach the ceiling of bankruptcy of the media outlets or
    individual journalists, nor should it endanger their normal work.'

    In most cases, the courts seem to do what the plaintiffs want,
    imposing the maximum amount of damages. On 7 February, Haykakan
    Jamanak was ordered to pay 2,440,000 drams (nearly 16,000 dollars) in
    damages to each of the three parliamentarians - Ruben Hayrapetyan,
    Samuel Aleksanyan and Levon Sargsyan - who sued it over a 14 October
    article quoting a list of Armenian officials and businessmen allegedly
    involved in criminal activity. Editor Hayk Gevorgyan said he was
    amazed by the court's verdict and has decided to appeal.

    As well as the large amounts in damages demanded by plaintiffs,
    newspapers must also pay excessive lawyers' fees. The abuses are such
    that the council of the Armenian Chamber of Lawyers has approved a
    proposed directive imposing a ceiling of 300,000 drams (6,400 euros)
    on fees in defamation cases. It has been submitted to the legal
    department, which will decide whether it should go into effect.

    Reporters Without Borders is following all of these cases closely. As
    well as those already mentioned, Reporters Without Borders will also
    attend the upcoming hearings in the parliamentarian Tigran
    Arzakantsian's lawsuit against the newspaper Yerkir and the lawsuit
    that the company Glendale Hills has brought against Jamanak.

    Reporters Without Borders has urged participants in the forum on media
    freedom held by the human rights ombudsman in Yerevan to discuss ways
    to limit defamation suits. Media self-regulation should be developed
    and, when legal actions are brought, the courts should respect the
    principle of proportionality when awarding damages.



    http://en.rsf.org/armenie-armenian-newspapers-threatened-by-01-05-2011,40201.html




    From: A. Papazian
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