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WEBSITE THAT DEFAMED WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTER REFUSES TO PUBLISH RETRACTION
10.29.2013 20:54 epress.am
The dispute between the Women's Resource Center of Armenia (WRCA) and
the website Zaruhi.com, which began last year, has not been resolved:
Zaruhi.com's editorial team refuses to publish a retraction or
apologize for defamatory statements made about the NGO on its website.
In 2012, Zaruhi.com journalist Ruslan Tatoyan published a piece on
Zaruhi.com in which he called the WRCA a "grant-taker" and "family
destroyer".
The WRCA took the matter to court, requesting a retraction from both
the website and the journalist for defamation and insult. The first
instance court sustained the lawsuit and ordered a compensation of
50,000 AMD (about $120 USD). The appeals court, however, found only
the journalist (and not the website) liable.
"An apology should've been published on the website, but since only
the journalist is responsible, he is unable to do so - the journalist
does not have access to the site. Moreover, he no longer works there.
The journalist is prepared to publish an apology, but the website
doesn't allow him to publish a stand-alone article, offering he do
so by leaving a comment [on the website]," WRCA's attorney, Nvard
Piliposyan, informed Epress.am today. She said they have already said
the only way to resolve the issue is to publish a retraction on the
website, after which the matter can be considered closed.
According to Piliposyan, Zaruhi.com's former director, current
Republican Party of Armenia MP Hayk Babukhanyan, who till today is the
chair of the website's editorial board, after the incident, began to
take action against the Center, discrediting it and making offensive
statements, including complaining to the police with false accusations.
"[The Center] has a strained relationship with this person in
particular, and as a result, the website is not agreeing to voluntarily
publish an apology. In any case, we have a verdict confirming the
defamation; it's just that, because of one move, the court omitted the
website from the list of respondents and the verdict is not actually
being executed. The law requires that the apology must be published
in the same way and in the same place as the [original] article,"
said the attorney.
Piliposyan said the omission in the law is obvious: a lot of fuss is
raised when cases go to court, but in many instances, court rulings
aren't executed, as there are no ways to implement them.
The Epress.am correspondent also spoke with the journalist, Ruslan
Tatoyan, who said that the article was originally supposed to be
published in the newspaper Iravunq because he works there.
"The fact that the article was published on Zaruhi.com was not my
fault, though Zaruhi.com belongs to Iravunq. The trial took place
against Zaruhi.com; meanwhile, I was a newspaper journalist. I quit my
job in March, then I saw the verdict: both the financial demand and
publishing the article were laid on me. I had no leverage: how could
I publish the article on the website or without the editor's knowledge?
If there's a court process that's issued a ruling then it has to be
executed. I never wanted to insult the Center or women; there are
things I agree with and others I don't, but there were epithets in the
article which had nothing to do with me. Amazingly, only I was left
as the defendant, and they washed their hands," said the journalist,
referring to Zaruhi.com's editorial team.
According to him, he is also finding ways to publish a public apology
and get rid of all this preposterous red tape.
http://www.epress.am/en/2013/10/29/website-that-defamed-women%E2%80%99s-resource-center-refuses-to-publish-retraction.html
10.29.2013 20:54 epress.am
The dispute between the Women's Resource Center of Armenia (WRCA) and
the website Zaruhi.com, which began last year, has not been resolved:
Zaruhi.com's editorial team refuses to publish a retraction or
apologize for defamatory statements made about the NGO on its website.
In 2012, Zaruhi.com journalist Ruslan Tatoyan published a piece on
Zaruhi.com in which he called the WRCA a "grant-taker" and "family
destroyer".
The WRCA took the matter to court, requesting a retraction from both
the website and the journalist for defamation and insult. The first
instance court sustained the lawsuit and ordered a compensation of
50,000 AMD (about $120 USD). The appeals court, however, found only
the journalist (and not the website) liable.
"An apology should've been published on the website, but since only
the journalist is responsible, he is unable to do so - the journalist
does not have access to the site. Moreover, he no longer works there.
The journalist is prepared to publish an apology, but the website
doesn't allow him to publish a stand-alone article, offering he do
so by leaving a comment [on the website]," WRCA's attorney, Nvard
Piliposyan, informed Epress.am today. She said they have already said
the only way to resolve the issue is to publish a retraction on the
website, after which the matter can be considered closed.
According to Piliposyan, Zaruhi.com's former director, current
Republican Party of Armenia MP Hayk Babukhanyan, who till today is the
chair of the website's editorial board, after the incident, began to
take action against the Center, discrediting it and making offensive
statements, including complaining to the police with false accusations.
"[The Center] has a strained relationship with this person in
particular, and as a result, the website is not agreeing to voluntarily
publish an apology. In any case, we have a verdict confirming the
defamation; it's just that, because of one move, the court omitted the
website from the list of respondents and the verdict is not actually
being executed. The law requires that the apology must be published
in the same way and in the same place as the [original] article,"
said the attorney.
Piliposyan said the omission in the law is obvious: a lot of fuss is
raised when cases go to court, but in many instances, court rulings
aren't executed, as there are no ways to implement them.
The Epress.am correspondent also spoke with the journalist, Ruslan
Tatoyan, who said that the article was originally supposed to be
published in the newspaper Iravunq because he works there.
"The fact that the article was published on Zaruhi.com was not my
fault, though Zaruhi.com belongs to Iravunq. The trial took place
against Zaruhi.com; meanwhile, I was a newspaper journalist. I quit my
job in March, then I saw the verdict: both the financial demand and
publishing the article were laid on me. I had no leverage: how could
I publish the article on the website or without the editor's knowledge?
If there's a court process that's issued a ruling then it has to be
executed. I never wanted to insult the Center or women; there are
things I agree with and others I don't, but there were epithets in the
article which had nothing to do with me. Amazingly, only I was left
as the defendant, and they washed their hands," said the journalist,
referring to Zaruhi.com's editorial team.
According to him, he is also finding ways to publish a public apology
and get rid of all this preposterous red tape.
http://www.epress.am/en/2013/10/29/website-that-defamed-women%E2%80%99s-resource-center-refuses-to-publish-retraction.html