A Thai court on Wednesday charged Grammy-winning Russian pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev with raping a 14-year-old boy but allowed him to leave Thailand in an indication that evidence against him remains questionable.
Pletnev, 53, a former member of the Kremlin's culture and art council, posted bail of 300,000 baht ($9,200) and is to appear in court July 18, Russian Consul Andrei Dvornikov told RIA-Novosti.
The court permitted Pletnev to leave because "the evidence against him was not weighty enough," a Thai police source told Lifenews.ru.
Pletnev, who will kick off a European tour with his Russian National Orchestra on Friday, has denied the charges, calling them "an utter misunderstanding," RIA-Novosti reported.
Friends suggested that Pletnev might be the victim of blackmail.
The charges stem from testimony from a long-time friend, local resident Traiphop Bunphasong, who was arrested Sunday on suspicion of running a child prostitution ring, the Pattaya Daily News web site reported Wednesday.
Pletnev told the web site that he had not known of the illegal activities of his friend and had paid Bunphasong to look after his two houses in the beach resort of Pattaya while he was touring abroad.
The Bangkok Post reported that the 14-year-old boy linked to Pletnev had filed a complaint with a nongovernmental organization in Pattaya. It was unclear whether the complaint had any connection with Bunphasong's arrest.
Thai police said evidence against Pletnev included a statement from the alleged victim that he had lived in the musician's house for a year and been raped by him twice, The Associated Press reported. Police said Pletnev had appeared in some photographs with the boy, but no suspicious activity was depicted, AP said.
If convicted of raping a child under 15, Pletnev faces up to 20 years in prison in Thailand, said Omsin Sukkanka, a Thai investigator working on the case, RIA-Novosti reported.
Several years ago, when Pletnev was touring in Japan, the parents of a Japanese boy accused him of sexually molesting their son, Moskovsky Komsomolets reported Tuesday, without citing any sources.
Russian children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov called on the Investigative Committee to join in the investigation into Pletnev.
The Foreign and Culture ministries have asked the Russian Embassy in Bangkok to offer consulate assistance to Pletnev.
The earliest that Pletnev might face trial is in April, the Thai police source told Lifenews.ru.
Under terms of an agreement for him to leave the country, he paid a second bail of $6,000 and has to register with the court every 12 days, said the Russian Embassy in Bangkok.
