Yerevan Deputy Mayor Tigran Avinyan’s lawyer Harutyun Harutyunyan has asked a court in the Armenian capital to unfreeze assets of 168 Zham reporter David Sargsyan.

Avinyan filed a defamation lawsuit against Sargsyan and his newspaper after the journalist released a video report accusing the vice mayor of illicit enrichment. The report claimed Avinyan and his family had been “steadily getting richer” since Nikol Pashinyan came to power in 2018.

The court granted Avinyan’s request to freeze the assets of both the newspaper and the journalist worth 18 million drams and 9 million drams, respectively, pending a verdict in the case.

In a statement on Tuesday, Harutyunyan said following discussions with his client, he filed a motion to the court on Tuesday to unfreeze the reporter’s assets in response to a statement issued by Armenian media organizations on May 12.

“It also highlights that Tigran Avinyan has no intention of bankrupting any media outlet or deliberately causing it any financial inconvenience,” the lawyer said.

At the same time, he urged media outlets and reporters to be “as scrupulous as possible” and remain committed to the principle of integrity.