Armen Tavadyan, the owner of the Fifth Channel of Armenia, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Chairman of the Committee to Protect Freedom of _expression_ Ashot Melikyan.

The suit filed with the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction demands Melikyan to retract his defamatory statement and provide compensation for non-pecuniary damage, Panorama.am learned from DataLex, an online database providing information regarding court cases in Armenia.

The Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction accepted the lawsuit on April 10. The case has been assigned to judge presided Anna Pilosyan.

Speaking to Panorama.am, Tavadyan's lawyer Hovhannes Khudoyan said that the lawsuit stems from an article published by Aravot.am, which reported Ashot Melikyan as saying: "I do not think that Armen Tavadyan was arrested for silencing the Fifth Channel. We know how he hit a demonstrator with a bottle and how he tried to offer a bribe."

According to the defense lawyer, they demand 2 million drams in compensation for the damage.

Ashot Melikyan made the remarks during a discussion on real beneficial owners of media outlets at the Freedom of Information Center organized with the support of the British Embassy in Yerevan.