It took sixteen years, but an Armenian court has ruled that Hetq is innocent of slandering former Ijevan Mayor Varuzhan Nersisyan in a case involving the illegal operation of a sand mine at the White Water reservoir on the Aghstev River.

Nersisyan filed a slander suit over a 2008 Hetq article (Who is Pocketing the Profits from the Sand Mine?), demanding that Hetq retract the article he argued defamed his dignity and business reputation.

The court found that the article was in the public interest and that local officials hindered Hetq’s attempts to reveal who was profiting from the illegal mining of sand.

Nersisyan also demanded that Hetq reimburse him 930,000 drams for incurred legal fees.

The case was adjudicated several times in the courts before today’s ruling by Yerevan’s Court of First Instance.