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Lawyer: Appellate court sends Avinyan's lawsuit against Pastinfo back for retrial
The Civil Court of Appeals on Friday upheld Pastinfo’s appeal in a case involving Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan and the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF), attorney Sos Hakobyan reported.
The appellate court overturned a lower court ruling that had deemed Pastinfo's article about Avinyan, then a deputy mayor, defamatory.
"The morning was far from good for Tigran Avinyan and ANIF, if the latter still exists. But this time, the trouble wasn’t snowfall, it was justice,” Hakobyan wrote on Facebook.
“The Civil Court of Appeals has granted the appeal I filed on behalf of my client, Pastinfo. The court overturned the 12 June 2024 ruling of judge Yerem Yesoyan, who had approved the lawsuit filed by Avinyan and ANIF, labeling the article’s statements as defamatory,” he added.
The article, based on investigative reporting, alleged that Avinyan’s tenure as deputy Yerevan mayor and chairman of ANIF’s Board was unlawful and raised concerns about corruption risks. The Court of Appeals confirmed that the criticism targeted Avinyan’s political role, not his personal life, emphasizing that “harsh criticism of public officials is essential in a democracy.”
The court also ruled that Pastinfo's claims were fact-based value judgments and that the burden of proof should have been on Avinyan and ANIF, not the media. It found the first instance court’s reasoning unsubstantiated and sent the case back for retrial, citing misdistribution of the burden of proof.
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