Senior opposition MP Artur Vanetsyan, who heads the Homeland Party, has won his defamation lawsuit against Chairman of For the Republic Party Arman Babajanyan.
A first instance court in Yerevan, presided over by judge Naira Avetisyan, obliged Babajanyan to publicly deny his claims about Vanetsyan made in a 2020 interview and apologize to him in a ruling delivered on Friday.
"In the case of Artur Vanetsyan vs. Arman Babajanyan, the court of first instance once again obliged the latter to publicly apologize to the Homeland Party leader," Arsen Babayan, a senior member of the party, wrote on Telegram.
Babajanyan has also been told to pay Vanetsyan 800,000 drams (about $1,900) in damages.
In the interview to Factor TV in September 2020, Babajanyan accused Artur Vanetsyan of "spying for Russian special services".