Grammy-winning Russian pianist-conductor Pletnev charged with pedophilia in Thai beach town

First heard about this on Classic FM yesterday.

BANGKOK — Internationally acclaimed Russian pianist and conductor Mikhail Vasillievich Pletnev has been charged with raping a 14-year-old boy in a Thai beach town, police said Wednesday.

Mikhail Vasilievich Pletnev, the founder of the Russian National Orchestra, was charged Tuesday with rape and appearing in compromising photographs with several other boys, said police Lt. Col. Creetha Tankanarat.

He was released on a 300,000 baht ($9,000) bail, ordered to report to the court every 12 days and is banned from contacting any witnesses in the case. He could face up to 20 years in jail and a fine of up to 40,000 baht ($1,200) if found guilty.

"This whole thing is a misunderstanding," said Pletnev in a brief telephone interview with The Associated Press but did not elaborate. He said he had no intention of leaving Thailand and was still residing in Pattaya.

Thailand has long been known as a haven for sex tourists and pedophiles because of widespread prostitution and lax law enforcement. Authorities have voiced intentions to crackdown on such offences, and the Russian's arrest is one of the most prominent cases to date.

Police said the musician was taken in Monday evening following a tip from Traipob Boonmasong, a Thai national who was charged with child rape for his alleged involvement in a child prostitution ring. Police confiscated pictures of young boys, some alongside foreigners.

Pletnev founded the Russian National Orchestra, the country's first independent orchestra, after befriending Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev at conference in Washington, D.C., in 1988, and was its first principal conductor, according to the orchestra's website. Today, he is the orchestra's artistic director.

Internationally known as a pianist, conductor and composer, Pletnev won a 2005 Grammy for an arrangement of Prokofiev's "Cinderella," which was recorded with him and Martha Argerich on piano.

In Thailand, Pletnev has performed as a guest conductor with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra.

He also owns a restaurant and several businesses, including a badminton club, in Thailand, police said, and keeps private personal watercraft and two powered hang gliders in his residential compound in Pattaya, a resort town known for its wide-open night life, foreign criminal gangs and police suspected of corruption when dealing with criminal cases. It is also a major destination for Russian tourists.

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Online:

Russian National Orchestra: http://www.russianarts.org/rno/index.cfm

Copyright © 2010 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Exclusive Follow-up with Accused Russian Paedophile

July 07, 2010



Following the arrest of a reputable Russian musician over child pornography and prostitution allegations in Pattaya on Monday, Pattaya Daily News has managed to obtain an exclusive interview with the man himself, Mr. Mikhail Pletnev.

Pattaya, the 6th of July 2010 [PDN]: Mr. Pletnev is a famous Russian pianist, conductor and composer who has over 30 years of experience in the music industry. Most notably Mr. Pletnev is responsible for founding the Russian National Orchestra in 1990 due to his strong friendship with former Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev. The Russian National Orchestra was the first privately operated, non-government backed orchestra in Russia since 1917.

Having played for such dignitaries as the Russian and American Presidents, various royal families, celebrities and even Her Majesty the Queen of Thailand, Mr. Pletnev has intermittently been residing in the Kingdom for the last 15 years. Although his work commitments as an exclusive contract pianist with the Deutsche Gramophone Company do not allow him too permanently reside anywhere.

Despite all of his fame and notoriety, Mr. Pletnev has now found himself embroiled in allegations of child prostitution and pornography with his arrest on Monday morning whilst he was in a café at the Euro Badminton Complex in Pattaya. Police apprehended Mr. Pletnev due to his relationship with a Thai man, Mr. Traiphop Bunphasong who was arrested on Sunday and later implicating as the leader of a child prostitution racket in Pattaya.

Mr. Pletnev explained to PDN that he had known Mr. Bunphasong for many years and that he was a talented artist, but that he had no knowledge of any illegal activities that Mr. Bunphasong is alleged to have been involved with. Having frequently visited the region for many years, Mr. Pletnev owns two houses in Pattaya both of which he was paying Mr. Bunphasong to look after whilst he was frequently away from the country performing.

During an exclusive interview with Mr. Pletnev at his palatial home on Soi Siam Country Club, he revealed that he had never been involved in any illegal or illicit dealings with children and that he assumes he is a suspect due to his connection with Mr. Bunphasong. Remaining calm, polite and accepting throughout, Mr. Pletnev did not even begrudge the media or police for their investigations, understanding that they have to look into complaints of such a serious nature and investigate all avenues regardless of who is involved.

When asked about the evidence reported in police statements, Mr. Pletnev explained that police had only found one photograph of himself and a Thai friend which was taken in Switzerland several years ago, at the time the Thai man was approximately 25-years-old.

Despite Mr. Pletnev’s insistence that they search his computer and hard drives officers did not, as was reported, search the computer system or find any substantiating evidence. He also explained that they had only searched his residence in Soi Siam Country Club and not the one in central Pattaya, where Mr. Bunphasong had been staying temporarily.

Mr. Pletnev did not deny that there may be indecent material on the computers as he was so frequently not at home and gave access to the houses to Mr. Bunphasong. He revealed that he was open to having the police come and check the systems, confident that any offending material could be traced to a time at which he was not in the country.

Despite the very damaging and potentially career threatening allegations being held against him, Mr. Pletnev will now await the outcome of a court hearing on his case scheduled for today, which will decide whether he is given travel allowance to continue working whilst judicial proceedings are ongoing. He has been temporarily released from police custody having paid a security fee (bond) to the Thai police.

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2010/07/07/exclusive-follow-up-with-accused-russian-paedophile/