During the Bella and Sedrak Kocharian vs. local daily Jamanak (“Times”) court session, attorney Nikolai Baghdasaryan, representing the newspaper, offered to settle the lawsuit against his client and to publish a retraction, if the the Kocharians’ aim is not to cause financial damage to the news outlet.

Recall, in three articles published from September to early October, the newspaper claimed that Bella Kocharian is involved in the pharmaceuticals business, that the 911 drugstores chain belongs to the Kocharian family and they’re the ones who sponsor Comstar, Likvor and Pharmatex in the pharmaceutical drugs market. The paper also alleged that the Kocharian family owns diamond mines in Namibia and that recently, Sedrak Kocharian acquired a diamond mine in India.

The Kocharian family representative had written a letter to the editors of Jamanak last year, noting that they found “inaccurate information” in the articles, asking them to retract “factual inaccuracies.” The paper published the retraction, again recounting the contents of the story. The Kocharian family, considering that to be a yet another blow to their good reputation, decided to take the case to court.

The court gave the Kocharians 12 days to consider the settlement offer. The case will resume in court on Mar. 14.