YEREVAN. – Armenia's several environmentalists have sued Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, the DataLex judicial information system informs. They demand that Avinyan be obliged to refute the data that are considered slander.

Environmentalist Anna Shahnazaryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that it is about Avinyan's statement that he claims that the environmentalists who are fighting against the operation of the Amulsar gold mine are financed by the businessmen of the mining industry.

According to Shahnazaryan, the environmentalists sent a request to Tigran Avinyan's office, where, however, they declined to comment on who he meant.

"There are no further comments on the thoughts voiced by the Deputy Prime Minister while in Tbilisi," Avinyan's office responded to the environmentalists.

After that, the environmentalists filed a lawsuit demanding to refute the statement.