YSU lecturer to challenge dismissal in court

Sahak Manukyan, a law lecturer and attorney recently dismissed from Yerevan State University (YSU), plans to take legal action to overturn the rector’s order terminating his employment, describing the decision as unjustified.

Manukyan told Panorama.am on Wednesday that the university cited “conduct unbecoming of an academic environment” as the reason for his dismissal, but he said the decision stemmed from a classroom example he used to explain the legal difference between insult and defamation. According to him, a student, later identified as the daughter of ruling Civil Contract party MP Arusyak Manavazyan, secretly recorded part of his lecture and sent it to her mother, prompting the rector’s decision to dismiss him.

Manukyan said the example in question was drawn from a scene in the Armenian film Scotch & Whiskey and was meant solely for academic discussion. “One student ignored the essence of the lecture and engaged in impermissible conduct,” he said.

Manavazyan denied any role in the lecturer’s dismissal, insisting she had no influence over YSU’s decisions. The university said Manukyan had “repeatedly violated ethical norms,” citing complaints from students and parents.

Manukyan dismissed the claims as defamatory. Human rights lawyer Ruben Melikyan defended him, calling the dismissal “an apparent breach of academic freedom” and calling for an open dialogue on classroom ethics at YSU.