The pianist played out

The Thai court presented the famous pianist and conductor, the head of the Russian National Orchestra Mikhail Pletnev, an accusation of the molestation of a 14-year-old teenager, reports Associated Press . If the court pleads guilty, Pletnev can face up to 20 years in prison and 40 thousand baht of a fine ($ 1200).

Pletnev himself in an interview with Associated Press said: "The whole thing is a misunderstanding."

The agency, in turn, notes that Thailand has long been known as paradise for sex tourists and pedophiles due to the spread of prostitution, which the authorities look through the fingers.

As previously reported, Pletnev was arrested on Monday in the evening on suspicion of involvement in the network of children's prostitution and ties with minors. In his house in Thailand, a search was searched, however, without finding anything suspicious, the musician was released on bail of 300 thousand baht ($ 9 thousand) and the obligation to register in court every 12 days. However, messages appeared in the Thai media with reference to the police report, as if a musician’s house had found many discs with pornographic photo and video materials.

Employees of the Russian embassy and the musician himself expected that on Wednesday he would be allowed to leave Thailand to continue concert activities. On Wednesday afternoon, it became known that the Thai court allowed Pletnev to leave the country during the tour, but on July 18 he must return to the country and appear to the court. This was told by RIA "Novosti" Russian consul Andrei Dawns.

According to the Thai edition of Pattaya Daily News , Mikhail Pletnev was involved in the pedophile scandal in Thailand in connection with his acquaintance with a resident of this country by Trapop Bunpason, who was also arrested and accused of organizing children's prostitution in Pattaya.

In an interview with Pattaya Daily News, Mikhail Pletnev explained that he has known Bunpason for many years as a talented artist, and has no information about the crimes that are charged with him.

For many years, Pletnev is often visited by Thailand, where he has been leading a local company for children to play piano. He also owns a restaurant and several other businesses in Thailand, including a badminton club.

Pletnev owns two houses in Pattaya, for whom, in his absence, Bunpasong looks after a certain fee.

In an interview, which Pletnev gave in one of his houses in Patay, the musician said that he had never had any illegal ties with his children and that he was suspicious because of his contacts with Bunpason. Commenting on a search in his house, Pletnev said that the police found only a photograph taken several years ago in Switzerland, in which he was captured with his Thai friend for 25 years. At the same time, he did not deny that obscene materials could be in his computer, since he was often absent at home, while Bunpasung was there.

The day before, a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Russian Embassy in Bangkok contacted Pletnev and local law enforcement agencies to clarify the situation and provide the conductor with legal and consular assistance.