ArmInfo News, Yerevam, in Russian
Nov 18 2004

Armenian politician set to sue opposition MP for slander

Yerevan, 17 November: The first deputy chairman of Armenia’s
Progressive Party, Sarkis Arutyunyan, intends to bring a lawsuit at a
court of first instance. He is accusing opposition MP Arshak Sadoyan
of insults and slander, Arutyunyan said at a press conference in
Yerevan today.

During the 9 November protest outside the administrative building of
ArmenTel, Sadoyan called him “a minion” and “a concert-organizer”,
Arutyunyan said. “The former is an insult and the latter is slander.
Both cases constitute criminally punishable deeds and I intend to
apply to a court of first instance demanding public apologies,”
Arutyunyan said.

“I was personally invited to the demonstration outside ArmenTel by
the leadership of the Progressive Party. A young man whom I did not
personally know tried to obstruct my speech in every way. I had to
respond and tried to curb his zeal. I do not know Sarkis Arutyunyan
personally for it is difficult for me to recognize immediately the
leaders of the newly established small parties,” the head of the
National Democratic bloc and an MP from the opposition Justice bloc,
Sadoyan, said, commenting on Arutyunyan’s remarks at the request of
Arminfo news agency.