Appellate Review Of Ruling In Navalny Veteran Defamation Case To Be Held On April 29

An appellate review of the Moscow court ruling in the World War II veteran defamation case against Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny will take place on April 29, the Babushkinsky district court told Sputnik on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th April, 2021) An appellate review of the Moscow court ruling in the World War II veteran defamation case against Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny will take place on April 29, the Babushkinsky district court told Sputnik on Thursday.

In early March, Navalny's lawyers appealed the court decision to fine the blogger 850,000 rubles ($11,000) for his strong-worded comments on a video, in which the veteran spoke in favor of constitutional amendments.

"The appellate review of the magistrate's verdict on Alexey Navalny, convicted under section 2 of Article 128.

1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, will take place on April 29, 2021, at 11.00 a.m.," the press service said.

The court, however, did not confirm if Navalny was going to be present at the hearing.

The 44-year-old was sentenced to a 2.5-year prison term in early February after the Moscow court converted his 3.5-year suspended sentence on financial misconduct charges to a real term. A court earlier found the blogger guilty of defrauding the Russian subsidiary of French cosmetics firm Yves Rocher of 26 million rubles ($340,500).