USA ARMENIAN LIFE DEMANDS FROM ATTORNEYS BRIAN S. KABATECK, SHANT KARNIKIAN TO CEASE AND DESIST FROM LEGAL HARASSMENT OF FACTUAL REPORTER; RECALL THEIR MISGUIDED JULY 13 LETTER AND ISSUE A COMPLETE APOLOGY
Posted on July. 22. 2023
VIA EMAIL & U.S. MAIL
July 17, 2023
Shant Karnikian, Esq.
Kabateck LLP
633 W. Fifth Street
Suite 3200
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Via: Irma Deleon icd@kbklawyers.com
Re: DEMAND FOR CEASE AND DESIST FROM LEGAL HARASSMENT OF FACTUAL REPORTER; RECALL OF YOUR JULY 13 LETTER AND COMPLETE APOLOGY.
Mr. Shant Karnikian, Esq.
I am in receipt of your July 13, 2023 letter pertaining to your baseless claim and unrealistic demand titled “Re: DEMAND FOR FULL RETRACTION AND COMPLETE APOLOGY” in the matter of Divine Food and Catering LLC, v. Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, et. al. (LASC case no. 21STCV38713).
I must ‘congratulate’ you for having outdone your boss and sponsor Mr. Brian S. Kabateck, Esq. in coming up with the most ludicrous demands that are enhanced by packs of baseless accusations and perverse attempt to silence a law-abiding and ethical investigative reporter, the author of this letter.
Your rambunctious legal misbehavior and recklessness are nothing less than a blatant abuse of the privilege to practice law in the State of California or anywhere. You and your boss and sponsor Mr. Kabateck have become a menace to the society by allowing yourselves to abuse your prerogatives as attorneys in rendering service to corrupted and a criminal church leader and his clan.
Your deviant letter amounts to no more than the sequel to the infamous legal mumbo jumbo that your boss and sponsor, embattled attorney himself, Mr. Kabateck attempted several months ago against this writer. To the detriment of your client Western Diocese Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Mr. Kabateck’s misguided legal gymnastics failed in silencing this writer who adheres to the highest standards in fair and factual reporting.
Your demand letter is a form of ‘legal terrorism’ against a truthful journalist. It seems to be designed to force this writer to commit a lie to help your client cover up his lie in having any responsibility in the legal mess that the Western Diocese is now involved in. Your attempts are downright shameless. It is no less than an act of legal harassment. It’s as clear as the sun of day, that your main purpose seems to pursue an objective that runs against the First Amendment of the United States Constitution that upholds every U. S. Citizen’s inalienable right to Freedom of Expression, Free Press and the right to be well-informed.
What you have come up with is nothing less that a ‘masterpiece’ letter that seems to be designed to coerce a righteous and fair-minded journalist into lying against his will in order to make him a scapegoat and ultimately help you whitewash your client Western Diocese Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian’s long-tarnished and widely discredited record as an embattled spiritual and self-appointed autocratic leader of the Diocese.
Since when, calling a spade, ‘a spade,’ can be misconstrued as ‘defamatory’ or ‘libelous per se’ or an attempt for ‘character assassination?’
You have grossly mischaracterized factual reporting as ‘foolish’ and other epithets misused by you that are too insulting, outright falsehoods, outlandish and libelous against the author of this letter to be repeated here. They are nothing less than an underhanded attempt, on your part, to perpetrate legal bullying against truthful reporters and force them into silence. Don’t you feel ashamed, Mr. Karnikian for your obsessive attempts to protect a notorious liar, master deceiver, master manipulator, master thief and a highly vindictive individual as Archbishop Derderian? Are you and your law firm an integral part of the Big Plan by the Soviet/Ottoman Armenian Mafia to defraud an entire community in the American Armenian Diaspora – and for that matter, the entire Armenian people?
You sound like you have either 1) failed in commissioning a professional investigator to properly conduct a full investigation into the activities of your own client Archbishop Derderian; or 2) for some hidden motives, you are choosing to refuse to acknowledge and recognize the true nature and character of your client.
Since when, you, Mr. Karnikian, along with your sponsor and boss Mr. Brian S. Kabateck, and your legal team have also been hired as ‘image-makers’ who may be ‘commissioned’ to keep out of damning factual news reporting the name of the ultimate head of the Western Diocese, Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian — under whose initiative and direct watch, many of the shenanigans (legal and administrative) against innocent and devoted members of the Western Diocese clergy, parishioners, righteous activists/reformers, whistleblowers and benefactors have been taking place for so many decades already?
Are you trying to cover up your client, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian’s nefarious activities? Do you mean to tell the Faithful that Archbishop Derderian had nothing to do with none of the nefarious activities that have been reported in the American Armenian Free Press?
Just like your boss and sponsor, as well as your clients, it sounds like you have turned out to be ‘a sore loser’ who has been dealt with yet another resounding legal defeat – this time in the Court of Appeal of the State of California’s Second Appellate District; Division One. Your clients – The Archbishop Derderian Triumvirate consisted of Arch. Derderian, Archpriest Manoug Markarian and son Harout Markarian are no less than ‘sore losers.’
In the aftermath of your most recent legal defeat of or about June 28, 2023, reportedly, your clients kept under the radar and out of public knowledge, their newest staggering legal losses for as long as they could. According to reliable sources, one or more spokesperson(s) of your clients may have misrepresented the fact of their legal defeat and claimed the opposite. The same reliable sources underline that the spokesperson(s) falsely claimed that they ‘have won’ and that they ‘will teach the benefactor, Mr. Taglyan a lesson and bring him down to his knees.’ However, the ‘fun party’ came to an abrupt end, when all of a sudden, about ten days ago, USA Armenian Life Magazine, armenianlife.com, USA Armenian Life Facebook page, USA Armenian Life E-Newsletter (eblast) and USA Armenian Life TV have broken the News of their resounding legal defeat – this time in California’s Second Appellate District.
Now, in reference to your false claim that your clients are not ‘masters of deception,’ here’s a key question that deserves to be settled once and for all: Did or did not your client’s subordinate and representative lie in a court of law denying the existence of a written lease agreement authorizing legal tenancy of the property located at 1201 North, 1219 North Vine St, Los Angeles, CA 90038?
Why are you acting as if the following fact does not exist? According to these facts, the June 28 unanimous verdict highlighted the fact that the “defendants (Western Diocese’s Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, his chief representative Priest Manoug and son Harout Markarian) knowingly concealed the existence of a written lease, is sufficient to make a prima facie showing that defendants brought the unlawful detainer action for a wrongful purpose, either to compel Petros (Dr. Taglyan) to pay additional monies to which they were not entitled, or to punish him for refusing to do so. Do you not recall reading in the judges’ verdict about the fact that The Derderian Triumvirate attempted to extort $30,000 (thirty thousand dollars) per month from the benefactor?
Are you not aware of the fact that in recent past, this writer and TV commentator has presented reports according to which Mr. Taglyan responded in the strongest terms to Archbishop Derderian’s chief negotiator Priest Markarian’s attempted extortion by telling him to “go to hell?” Furthermore, Mr. Taglyan reportedly told Priest Markarian: “I will never see your face ever again.” According to the same reports, after Priest Markarian’s unsuccessful extortion attempt against Mr. Taglyan, Archbishop Derderian, reportedly changing his tone and sounding reconciliatory, reached out to Mr. Taglyan and reportedly expressed remorse over what had transpired and asked to meet with the benefactor bringing along Priest Markarian to specifically apologize for his attempted extortion. Do you care to know exactly what self-deprecating words, Archbishop Derderian’s main negotiator Priest Markarian has used in order to ‘deliver’ an ‘appropriate’ apologize to Mr. Taglyan?
How can you enable your client Archbishop Derderian to escape responsibility in using his behind-the-scenes coercive tactics to ‘encourage’ his chief ally and Western Diocese main spokesperson Priest Markarian to extort money from Mr. Taglyan? Your misguided attempts to decouple your client Archbishop Derderian from the purported extortion attempt is adding ‘insult to injury.’
Can you kindly answer the following question? In your July 13 letter you have made a reference to “USA Armenian Life Magazine, and your sponsor undertake affirmative steps …” Can you please clarify the identity of the sponsor that you’re referring to? As you may well know, Mr. Karnikian, USA Armenian Life Magazine has been functioning as a vibrant member of the Free Press for several decades and as a direct result of the hard work by a dedicated team of journalists, the news organization has accumulated an army of supporters, advertisers and sponsors. Can you kindly be more specific as to the identity of the ‘sponsor’ that you’re referring to? I am thrilled to report that the supporters’ circle of bold and factual journalism performed by USA Armenian Life is growing on a daily basis.
You wrote: “Specifically, you have repeatedly, intentionally, and falsely identified Archbishop Hovnan Derderian as a defendant in the litigation. As confirmed in the public records which you are either incapable of reading or chose to ignore …”
Thank you for your arrogant ‘free lesson,’ and misguided notion, Mr. Karnikian. But thanks, and no thanks.
In your letter you are shamelessly attempting to inject confusion in the mind of the public and more specifically the American Armenian community about the so-called issue of confounding the ‘Defendants’ with the ‘Plaintiffs.’ In the June 28, 2023 California Second Appellate Court’s verdict by Judges J. Bendix, P. J. Rothschild, J. Chaney, wasn’t Divine Food and Catering (Mr. Taglyan and his family members) the ‘Plaintiff and Appellant’ and Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America et al (Archbishop Derderian, Priest Manoug Markarian and son Harout Executive Director of the Diocese and other Diocesan officials) the ‘Defendants and Respondents’?
Mr. Karnikian, you and your sponsor and boss Mr. Brian S. Kabateck are increasingly sounding like a Public Relations ‘agency representatives’ who are commissioned to suppress damning facts linking the name of their client the Western Diocese Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian to numerous nefarious activities involving the Western Diocese under his autocracy. Don’t you know, Mr. Karnikian, that your client Archbishop Derderian has long hijacked democracy within the Armenian Church that is one of the Christian institutions in the world that are mandated to be governed by democratic principles empowering the lay people to have administrative oversight over the financial dealings involving the Western Diocese in Western United States; Eastern Diocese in Eastern United States; Canada Diocese in Canada and other parts of the Armenian Diasporan centers in the Free World?
For the record, sadly, since the Soviet occupation, Democracy has long been abolished in the Armenian Apostolic Church all over the former Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia, former Autonomous Nagorno Karabakh Oblast (Artsakh), the former Soviet Union and the former Soviet space (mainly Eastern Europe). Luckily for the Armenian church parishioners in the Free World (North and South America, Western Europe, Middle East, Far East, Iran, Indian Sub-Continent, Africa and Oceania, Democracy in Armenian Church has been maintained. But in the last couple decades, since Archbishop Derderian’s arrival to the Western Diocese from the Canada Diocese, many Western Diocese insiders and whistleblowers insist that the Western Diocese By-Laws have been repeatedly violated by Archbishop Derderian, his cronies and his fellow clan members for self-serving purposes.
Incidentally, are you aware of the serious claims according to which Archbishop Derderian lost his popularity in the Canada Diocese because of his wrongdoings? His activities reportedly included misappropriation of funds from a Trust fund especially set up by Canadian Armenian benefactors to provide direly-needed financial assistance to widowed spouses and orphaned children of the Armenian martyred soldiers who fell during the First Artsakh Liberation War (1988-1994)? Does this sound like another case of stealing ‘Blood Money?’
Finally, we hereby put you, on written notice of this dispute and demand that you, Mr. Karnikian, your boss and sponsor Mr. Brian S. Kabateck along with the law firm KABATECK LLP stop perpetrating legal harassment against an ethical and reputable journalist and news organization that are set out to bring the facts as they are, and help the American Armenian community shed light on issues that are of serious concern to the members of the local and global Armenian community.
Furthermore, we demand that you, Mr. Karnikian, your boss and sponsor Mr. Brian S. Kabateck along with the law firm KABATECK LLP recall the July 13 letter and cease and desist from any future attempts to silence a member of the Free Press who has long been guided by the highest standards in ethical and factual reporting.
Very truly yours,
USA ARMENIAN LIFE MAGAZINE
APPO K. JABARIAN
Managing Editor/Executive Publisher
cc:
AMGA (Armenian Media Group of America, Inc.)