Russian court rejects Alexei Navalny’s second prison sentence appeal

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen on a TV screen as he appears via video link provided by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service in a courtroom of the Second Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction in Moscow (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)

A court in Russia has rejected imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s second appeal of a nine-year sentence.

The 46-year-old dissident is serving the sentence, handed to him in March on charges of fraud and contempt of court, in a high-security prison.