Russian Musician Says Thai Child Sex Charges are “Trivial”

Published : July 14, 2010 :: 12:07:50 [ 5,284 views ]

Russian musician Mikhail Pletnev, speaking from a resort in Macedonia, has recently dismissed his ongoing trial for child sex offences in Thailand as “trivial” and a “setup.”

Ohrid, the 13^th of July 2010: Speaking at a press conference from a Macedonian Resort on Monday, Mr. Pletnev dismissed the ongoing trial against him in Thailand as a setup. “A big company wants to present me as a criminal, which I am not,” he said.

“Nowhere in the world I did anything wrong. On the contrary, I have done a lot of good things in Thailand, which inhabitants there could tell about. I hope all this will be solved soon or later and justice will prevail,” he further revealed.

Mr. Pletnev was arrested and charged with the rape of a minor, under the age of 15, in the Thai seaside resort of Pattaya last week. A frequent visitor to the area, renowned for its flaunting of Thailand’s prostitution laws and resultant propensity to attract paedophiles, Mr. Pletnev owns several properties and a badminton club in the city.

At present, Mr. Pletnev, given temporary travel permission by the Thai courts, is in Macedonia having recently performed with the Russian National Orchestra, of which he is artistic director, at opening ceremony of the Ohrid Summer Festival’s 50th jubilee.

Expected to report to the Pattaya District Court on the 18^th of July, in accordance with his bail conditions, Mr Pletnev recently told a Russian reporter that the trial is a trivial scandal. Speaking from the Ohrid Airport via an interpreter Mr. Pletnev was again asked about the ongoing trial, to which he frustratingly declared, “we do not have time for this, it is a trivial scandal.”

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry has ordered the consulate in Thailand to investigate the circumstances surrounding the detention of Mr. Mikhail Pletnev in Pattaya.

“A representative of the consular department of the Russian embassy in Thailand has gone to Pattaya for clarifying details of the Pletnev detention,” stated a ministry spokesman speaking to Russian news agency ITAR-TASS. The same agency reported that Mr. Pletnev had instigated the aid of a Thai lawyer and had not requested aid from the Russian consulate.

Comments

Nick

said :

I hope the thai kid will now rescind his disgraceful comments, given that, as reported in the PDN and elsewhere Pletnev was only ever charged with molesting a 14 year old boy - who, for whatever reason, took several months to report the matter to the authorities. The other reported offences were pure lies. And now it appears even that one case was dropped about 10 weeks ago. Yet, no Thai media has reported that fact. Why? Britain's Guardian newspaper amongst others reported it at the week-end.

This case stank from the start of a set-up. And if you argue that Pletnev probably bought his way out of this, ask yourself some questions. He is rich. Why would he wait until he had been vilified for months in the world's media before trying to come to a financial settlement? Why would he be prepared to lose many high-paying concert engagements over the same period? Why would he spend large sums of money to return for six bail renewal hearings and only then try to come to a financial settlement? It makes zero sense. He was set-up by someone or some people, and he had the honour and dignity to comply with court rules and fight for his innocence and reputation.

Email : nicholas_derek@hotmail.com Date : 2010-12-08 13:47:37

Shocked

said :

I think the best justice would be a sentence of 30 days working on Walking Street. He has to wear the little skirt and have his ass serviced each day for 1000bt
Seems fair to me and sure he would be happy too.

Justice Served :-)

Email : stupid@live.com Date : 2010-07-15 06:02:08

stropmag

said :

I may well be proved wrong here but the reporting conditions were, I believe, to report every 11 days or some vsuch thing. That suggests to me that Mr. Pletnev has the opportunity to report in accordance with his bail conditions for as long as it takes for the case to come to court or otherwise. This means that he can answer his bail fearlessly and if at some time it looks as though bail is to be rescinded he can then do a runner and claim that the whole thing was a set-up and he no longer has faith in the Thai justice system. He will no doubt cite this as the reason for his absconding. Her has plenty of time to buy his way out of his predicament in the mean time and claim, as he reportedly has already, that the whole thing has been a misunderstanding. The big question is - will the Thai authorities stand up to the likely pressure from influential and very rich Russians? Somehow I doubt it but they will gain much needed international respect if they find themselves able to. My bet is that this man will in fact answer his bail, at least this time. It is of course possible that he is innocent but that is for the courts to decide (if it gets that far).

Email : paul.johnson@mail.net Date : 2010-07-15 00:02:13

steve

said :

the charges will be dropped once the money starts flowing... bet on it.

Email : steve@hotmail.com Date : 2010-07-14 21:55:28

Chris Nui

said :

Place your bets on: 'Does he appear on July 18th or not'. My vote is 'no'.

Email : chris@bang.net Date : 2010-07-14 20:54:46

Joe Lawyer

said :

Anyone with a pulse and/or a heartbeat knows full well and "accused" in Thailand has ZERO rights and defending ones self is a joke! Most likely the Thai firstly accused has started to "sing" to save his sorry ass and thus implicating a high profile Russian! Typical Thai rat....the Russian, even if guilty has no hope for a fair trial. He's done. The Thai RAT who is the culpable party walks,,,,as is the usual scenario!! You can trust a Thai about as far as your can throw them!!

Email : legalbeagle@hotmail.com Date : 2010-07-14 20:09:21

the thai kid

said :

this russian was involved in procuring young boys a pedophile for sure.I hope they make a example of him, he is guilty and now has the russian foregin embassy investigating mr. pietnevf detention...he has a court date with a thai judge on the 18th....will see if justice prevails.......they should make this russian a poster boy and a example ..YOU COME TO THAILAND AND MOLEST UNDERAGE CHILDREN ITS OFF TO JAIL WITH YOU.......This russian should be made a example put him in jail

Email : decastroharry@yahoo.com Date : 2010-07-14 17:03:16

Sally

said :

If and I say IF he comes back for the trial, he will be found to be innocent of ALL charges. MONEY TALKS! Between him and the Russian government Thailand will get a substantial amount of money to drop all charges and let him go. Russia is NOT going to let one of their own rich and famous go to the Bangkok Hilton. This does not mean he is innocent. How many times does a person have to implicated in a deplorable crime such as peodophilia before he is finally found guilty and charged. MONEY TALKS!

Email : sally4justice@gmail.com Date : 2010-07-14 15:30:18

David

said :

I love Banned, i wish i was young an wealthy like him.I sit on pdn forum all day without getting payed but that guy banned is lucky,gets to sit in his cool office all day looking at his 4 sexy thai women doing all his work for him.
I love that man

Email : uranidiot@yahoo.com Date : 2010-07-14 15:19:27

Bob

said :

Arrogance and stupidity aggravate each other exponentially. That is an incredibly stupid thing for him to say. Repulsive sissy-boy tosser.

Email : Bob@lockhimup.com Date : 2010-07-14 14:32:35

jerky

said :

Lets see if he returns on the 18 July! I personally would not say it is a trivial scandal, his life and reputations hangs on this.

Email : beefy@yahoo.com Date : 2010-07-14 13:31:31

David

said :

Interesting case, i hope we will be kept informed of the outcome.
I have a fat bum

Email : uranidiot@yahoo.com Date : 2010-07-14 13:07:40

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