INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday opened an appeal process for a nine-year prison sentence he was handed in March on charges
that he and his allies say are politically motivated.After a brief start to the hearing on Tuesday morning, the court said it would resume
government critics and Moscow pushes on with its military campaign in neighboring Ukraine, with thousands killed and some 10 million
displaced.A vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Navalny in late March had his jail time extended to nine years after he was
east of Moscow for violating parole on old fraud charges.On Tuesday, Navalny joined a hearing at a Moscow court via video-link from behind
the sentence, I will be moved to a regime colony and transferred out of here
sentence comes into force, the 45-year-old opposition politician will be transferred to a strict-regime penal colony, which will place him
Navalny of stealing for personal use several million dollars' worth of donations that were given to his political organizations.Navalny rose
to prominence as an anti-corruption blogger and, before his imprisonment, mobilised anti-government protests across Russia.In 2018, he
campaigned as a presidential candidate but was eventually barred from running in the election that saw Putin secure a fourth term in
Despite accusations from Navalny, the Kremlin denied any involvement.He was arrested on his return from treatment in Germany last year,
sparking widespread condemnation abroad, as well as sanctions from Western capitals.After his arrest, Navalny's political organizations
across the country were declared "extremist" and shut down.Navalny's key allies have since fled Russia and several are wanted by Russian
authorities on criminal charges.Russia has recently ramped up pressure on independent media and non-governmental organizations, declaring
available to its domestic audience, authorities have blocked access to the popular social networks Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and taken
