Sergey Smbatyan acquitted in Yerevan

Charges of fraud levelled against Armenian conductor Sergey Smbatyan have been dropped ‘on the basis that the impugned act was not committed by him’. In a decision published by the prosecutor of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Armenia on 27 October Smbatyan was acquitted.

Smbatyan, who founded the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra in 2005, was arrested with his father Armen Smbatyan, the former Ambassador of Armenia to Israel, by the Armenian general prosecutor’s office. The arrest was made in connection with actions by Sochocenter – a company allegedly owned by the Smbatyan family – which had been given a parcel of land in the Armenian capital of Yerevan to develop into an educational complex and had reportedly built a business centre instead.

In a statement released via Facebook, Smbatyan’s lawyer, Yervand Varosyan, said: ‘According to the decision of a prosecutor of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the RA (Republic of Armenia), the criminal prosecution against Sergey Smbatyan has been stopped on the grounds that the impeachable act was not committed by him.’

When the news of Smabtyan’s arrest broke in July, the conductor was suspended from his role as principal conductor with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO), having held the role since January 2022.

Announcing the termination of the public criminal prosecution against him, Smbatyan said: ‘As you probably learned from the news, the process that could have had only one outcome was resolved today, and that was the clarification of the misunderstanding that was unnecessarily publicized and the denial of the accusations against me. I thank everyone who stood with me during the last months and waited for this day with me full of faith. Your trust inspires and forces [me] to move forward.’