Music Teacher Jailed

RUSSIAN MUSIC TEACHER JAILED FOR NINE YEARS

SET UP

By Stephen Wilson

 

Music teacher Konstantin Chavdarov sits in prison
for a crime his victim said he never did.

           An awarding winning music teacher of the year Konstantin Eduardovich Chavdarov is currently serving a nine year sentence in a strict prison regime. He was convicted of sexually abusing one of his pupils. However, the basis of this conviction is highly dubious. It rests on the misleading and mistaken testimony which was later retracted by the parents and daughter who 'made it.' In fact, the parents who went to the police and made a testimony against them are now calling for his release and admit they had made a mistake! But the legal authorities have ignored their plea.  Despite irrefutable and expert evidence pointing to his innocence, the court has refused to release him. A campaign by concerned parents and sympathetic people has been launched calling for the teacher's release. Veronica Nazarova has stated in an open letter that, 'No teacher, doctor or coach is safe if all it takes is the word of one angry parent to make a testimony while the important evidence such as witnesses, evidence by experts and the case for the defense is blatantly disregarded. It means all teachers are in danger and under threat of arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. To prove your innocence has become almost impossible as the courts don't accept other evidence ... With weak evidence, the Judge simply gave a sentence and destroyed a life and put a cross on his profession', stated Nazarova.'

 

A WITCH HUNT

 

The arrest of Konstantin Chavdarov comes against the background of an anti-pedophile campaign which has created an atmosphere of pervasive and widespread fear. As one proverb states, 'Fear has big eyes'. It can often magnify a threat out of proportion to the reality. You can have a situation where worried parents see every teacher as a potential abuser. I met a number of school students who told me how scared they were of potential pedophiles and how some of them even carried knives for self-defense. On further questioning I learnt they had been listening to a lot of news reports and social networks which seemed to foster such a tense atmosphere of fear. Of course, pedophiles will always be a problem, but we should be careful and very attentive of  any allegations people make. For instance, some allegations have been made against teachers by angry and resentful pupils who have later admitted to making them up. An investigation into an accusation can't rely on words, hearsay or the whim of an angry student or parent. We also have to understand that Russia has a history where dissidents have been falsely accused of being pedophiles in order to either blacken their reputations or imprison them. The most prominent recent case has been the imprisonment of the historian Yuri Dmitriev of Karelia. He was convicted on the trumped up charges of abusing his daughter. But the terrible atmosphere which teachers have to work in is hardly confined to Russia. It also extends to Scotland and America. A Scottish storyteller Maria Menzies told me that, "Teachers are afraid of even the slightest physical contact with their pupils because they don't want to face any accusations of misconduct. They keep a big distance from their pupils. But I, as a storyteller, have to get the parents to sign an agreement where they will let me handle them without complaints before handling their kids." 

In America, Joe Biden's running mate preceded over a case where a man's stepdaughter was found to have falsely accused him of sexual abuse. Despite the fact that her mother claims her daughter is 'a compulsive liar,' he is still doing a 70 year sentence. The reason he has not been released? Biden's running mate implacably refuses to admit she is wrong. This is who the media regards as 'a progressive lawyer'!

 

WHO IS KONSTANTIN  CHAVDAROV?

 

Konstantin Chavdarov is a highly talented music teacher. By all accounts, it is no exaggeration to claim that he is a genius in the field of teaching. He has taught as many as 200 pupils to play the piano and assisted children with special needs who other people would often write off. He could even teach pupils which other teachers would regard as being 'difficult'. He won the award 'Teacher of the Year' in 2017.The doctor and Muscovite Veronica Nazarova has three children, one of them who is nine and suffers from autism. She stated, "When in 2015 I sent my son to the music school by the name of S.E. Taneeva, Fedor was five years old, and he didn't even understand speech. But we were fortunate that Konstantin Eduardovich Chadarov worked in this school. He did not just decide to take this difficult pupil, but found an individual way of helping him, and gave many extra lessons to him at home for free! And a miracle happened! My son did not simply learn to play well on instruments, but his inner development was given an impetus in general. We now have received hope that he can pursue a future career in music."  And many other parents of his pupils also greatly praise the efforts of this teacher.  

 

WHAT HAPPENED?

 

Konstantin Chadarov was arrested and charged under article 132, part 4 p,'b', of the Legal Codex of the Russian Federation for sexual abuse of a minor. This is a very grave accusation where the accused can be sentenced from 12 to 20 years imprisonment in a strict regime. The main claim against Konstantin arose after he had been asked to prepare one ten year old pupil for a music competition. This girl came to Konstantin 7 times. Konstantin regularly made a video film of his student's performance. He prepared this student for a special performance. In this competition, a strict dress code is observed. When the pupil arrived wearing an inappropriate sports suit, Konstantin asked her to change and left the room. This fact is confirmed by the pupil herself. When Konstantin returned to the room he directed the pupil's arms and positioned her so she could play well. But when the camera was switched on and she was asked to play she could not play to the end. Konstantin asked his pupil to concentrate and play well. But the pupil did not do so well in the competition. Ten days after this competition, without even consulting the teacher, the parents and this pupil went to the police and wrote a testimony. The statement against the teacher claimed he had touched the pupil's sexual organs. And that he had done this during the recorded performance! But as Veronica Nazarova has pointed out, this would be physically impossible to do if you know anything about the spatial distance between a pupil who plays her piano and the position of the teacher. Practical common sense would render such a claim absurd.

A second reason for supporting Konstantin's innocence is that all the expertise of psychologists and psychiatrists who investigated this case confirmed Konstantin was not in any way a pedophile.

All the other parents of pupils whom Konstantin taught claimed that they had not witnessed any wrongdoing from him. On the contrary, they were full of praise for the extraordinary efforts of this teacher. They were astounded by the accusations. Many are even indignant of what they see as a false accusation against the teacher.

 

Thirdly, the people who had made the originally testimony to the police suddenly retracted their statement. They claimed the statement was all a mistake. They even called for the release of Konstantin. But it was all too late. The judge refused to consider all the overwhelming evidence that pointed to Konstantin's innocence.

It now seems evident that the police forced the ten-year-old girl to write what was practically a dictated testimony to an afraid and anxious girl. In other words, this testimony had been tampered with by the police.

 

WHY DID THE PARENTS GO TO THE POLICE?

 

The questions as to why the parents went to the police station with those allegations against the teacher remains unclear. We can only speculate. Perhaps because the pupil and parents were dissatisfied with the results of the music competition, or that they wondered why their daughter seemed so upset. Maybe the daughter claimed to have played not so well because she had changed into uncomfortable clothes. Perhaps the parents were very angry or they really did believe the teacher had been abusing the pupil. We don't know the real motives behind their exact claim other than they later recognized their testimony had been wrong and that they retracted this.

 

What this case demonstrates is the low level of the police, prosecution and the judge. Any professional judge will take into account all the available evidence and use their independent reason. They will ask the question, "What actually happened?" instead of "How can I find the accused guilty irrespective of the evidence?"

  

A campaign has been launched for the release of Konstantin Chavdarov as well as an open letter addressed to the President of the Russian Federation asking for his release. As many as 10,000 people have signed the petition and there have been many letters of support from abroad. However, this campaign still needs much more support to be really effective. Securing the teacher's release won't be easy. Konstantin has already spent 11 months behind bars and maintains his innocence. He appreciates any support!

 

I would like to acknowledge the help of Zhanna Golubitskaya of Moskovskaya Komsomol and Veronica Nazarova who is at the forefront of leading the campaign for the release of Konstantin Chavdarov.