Sergey Smbatyan's Pretrial Restraint Changed: Released on 100 Million Dram Bail

The artistic director and chief conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Sergey Smbatyan, has had his house arrest changed to bail. This information was confirmed to Sputnik Armenia by Mariam Melkumyan, the press secretary of the Minister of Justice of Armenia.

Today, it was reported that on September 14 at 19:30, the opening concert of the annual 'Armenia' International Music Festival, organized by the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, will take place at the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall, conducted by Sergey Smbatyan.

'The pretrial restraint for Sergey Smbatyan has been changed by the prosecutorial body. He has been released on 100 million dram bail,' the lawyer stated.

The decision to change the pretrial restraint was made on September 8. It should be noted that on July 30, it became known that former ambassador Armen Smbatyan and his son, conductor Sergey Smbatyan, had been detained. Armen Smbatyan has been charged under point 1 of part 3 of Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (organizing fraud in particularly large amounts), while Sergey Smbatyan and businessman A.P. are charged under point 1 of part 3 of Article 178 (fraud in particularly large amounts).

On August 24, the Court of Appeals of Armenia partially overturned the decision of the first instance court regarding the choice of detention as a pretrial measure for conductor Sergey Smbatyan. House arrest had been chosen as the pretrial measure.