Yerevan Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction has fully rejected a lawsuit filed by Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan against newly appointed Security Council Secretary Alen Simonyan.
The information was published on the Facebook page of AM Law Firm, which represented Simonyan in court.
On May 19, 2025, then-National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan told reporters during a briefing: “… I consider Robert Kocharyan a murderer, his hands are covered in blood, he is a looter, he treated the Republic of Armenia as a place to exploit, and he still treats it that way…”
Kocharyan subsequently filed a lawsuit against Alen Simonyan, alleging dissemination of information damaging his honor and dignity, Sputnik Armenia reports.
“On August 18, 2026, Yerevan Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction issued a ruling fully rejecting the lawsuit filed by Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan against former National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan, seeking a retraction of information damaging his honor and dignity and payment of compensation,” the law firm said in a statement.
According to the firm, among other circumstances, the court based its rejection on the reasoning that, within the particular verbal context, such formulations constituted value judgments. They were characterized as harsh, exaggerated and provocative expressions carrying a seriously defamatory connotation. However, the court found that they contained no independent factual information concerning any specific killing, criminal scheme or particular form of the plaintiff’s involvement in such acts.
The court concluded that no sufficient body of evidence had been presented in the civil case to establish grounds for damage to honor, dignity or business reputation as stipulated by Article 1087.1 of Armenia’s Civil Code.
