ArmInfo. The court has dismissed the lawsuit filed by the second President of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The suit had demanded a retraction of statements allegedly defaming Kocharyan's honor and dignity, along with monetary compensation, as reported by the "AM" Law Firm.
" On June 5, 2025, during a regular Cabinet meeting, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan referred to Robert Kocharyan as a bribe-taker. Specifically, the Prime Minister noted: 'We are making a mistake by maintaining decorum. For example, we did not officially record that Robert Kocharyan is a bribe-taker, whereas this was recorded by a court decision. The person came to a court hearing in a bribery case against him and said, "Apply the statute of limitations." In doing so, he himself admitted to being a bribe-taker." Within the framework of this case, on July 23, 2026, the Court of First Instance of Yerevan issued a ruling fully rejecting Robert Kocharyan's lawsuit. Legal defense for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was provided by Arman Nersisyan, Senior Legal Counsel at "AM" Law Firm.
In its ruling, the court affirmed the defense's argument—based on precedents from the RA Court of Cassation and the European Court of Human Rights—that the Prime Minister's remarks made in the context of the termination of criminal prosecution due to the expiration of the statute of limitations constituted a factually grounded value judgment.
Specifically, according to the court, the term "bribery" mentioned by the defendant was a factually supported value judgment arising from the court ruling and the plaintiff's conduct during the criminal proceedings. In reaching this conclusion, the court relied on legal positions established by both the Court of Cassation of the Republic of Armenia and the European Court of Human Rights.
As a result, the court concluded that the evidence presented in this civil case was insufficient to establish grounds under Article 1087.1 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia, leading to the complete dismissal of the claim.
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