Civilnet
By Hasmik Hovhannisyan
Yerevan State University (YSU) has dismissed Sahak Manukyan, a lecturer at the Faculty of International Relations, after a student — the daughter of ruling Civil Contract party lawmaker Arusyak Manavazyan — photographed an example from his lecture and sent it to the university leadership, Manukyan and student activists said.
Manukyan told CivilNet he learned from the dean — without prior written notice — that his teaching contract was terminated shortly after YSU’s rector received the image. The university’s rector and vice-rectors did not respond to requests for comment.
Manukyan said the class that day focused on democratic systems and freedom of expression, using a line from a locally produced film to illustrate the difference between insult and defamation. “A student photographed me and her classmates without asking permission,” he said, adding that he did not utter the slang term in class but referred to a well-known scene that most students recognized.
The lecturer, who is also a practicing lawyer, said the same slang word — transliterated as “futsn” — had figured in a defamation case he handled. After consulting linguistic sources, he argued that the term is a colloquial insult rather than an obscenity and presented that distinction to students. He said he would challenge the university’s decision in court.
Yuri Movsesyan, a representative of the Restart Foundation and a former YSU student activist, said those he spoke with reported no political messaging in Manukyan’s classes. “He was considered one of the stronger lecturers in the humanities,” Movsesyan said.
YSU’s press office declined to comment, and the Student Council said the matter was outside its remit. Manukyan said he intends to contest the legality of the dismissal, arguing he was removed from his post without advance notification based on a classroom photo rather than a formal inquiry.
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