Leonid Tikhonov

The first searches and initiation of criminal proceedings took place two and a half weeks after a rally of Vostochny Port employees organized by a trade union led by Tikhonov on June 2, 2012; the initiation of criminal proceedings was also preceded by Tikhonov's appeal to the prosecutor's office regarding Vostochny Port's expenses on organizing sports and cultural events for its employees (information about these expenses was not provided to the trade union); the case was initiated on the application of Anatoly Lazarev, the managing director of Vostochny Port; in accordance with the law, the case was initiated on the basis of a complaint filed by Anatoly Lazarev, the managing director of Vostochny Port; in accordance with the port's collective agreement, the owner of the transferred funds, which Tikhonov was accused of embezzlement and misappropriation, was the primary public trade union organization (POPO) of JSC Vostochny Port, the Russian Dockers' Trade Union (RDTU), from the moment they were credited; neither during the investigation, nor in court, neither the primary trade union organization nor the RDTU recognized themselves as victims of the actions of the defendants; an independent audit commission of the RDTU checked Tikhonov's actions and found no misuse of the funds; at sentencing, the court rejected the testimony of all defense witnesses, members of the Vostochny Port trade union, who confirmed the fact of purchase of gifts and refute the fact of embezzlement and misappropriation of funds allocated for their purchase. Only the testimony of the prosecution witnesses, who stated that they did not receive gifts in cash or in kind, was found credible; on December 15, 2014, the Nakhodka City Court found Tikhonov guilty of committing crimes under Part 3 Article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (misappropriation or embezzlement using his official position, as well as on a large scale); he was sentenced to three and a half years' imprisonment in a general regime colony with a ban on engaging in trade union activities for three years; later, the court of appeal reduced the sentence by two months due to the fact that the material damage was fully compensated; he was later transferred to a settlement colony