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The leader of the opposition Homeland Party and I’m Honored bloc, Artur Vanetsyan, has decided to file a lawsuit against former Deputy Defense Minister, Lieutenant-General Gagik Melkonyan for “defamation”, Vanetsyan’s lawyer, Lusine Sahakyan, said on Facebook on Wednesday.

Speaking at a program aired on the Public TV Company on Tuesday evening, Melkonyan accused Vanetsyan of “fleeing” from Artsakh immediately after going there to fight in the war last year.

“Vanetsyan went there and fled immediately. They went there to bring weapons, they knew that there were many abandoned weapons there, so collected them and brought them to Armenia. Their purpose was to bring weapons from there,” he said.

“Even becoming an MP on the list of the Civil Contract Party does not exempt the person wearing the epaulettes of the general from thinking before speaking and being accountable for his statements,” the lawyer said.

A civil lawsuit demanding that Melkonyan dismiss the “defamatory statements” and compensate for non-pecuniary damage is being prepared now, Sahakyan said.