Russian justice confirmed on Saturday, on appeal, the prison sentence of the opponent Alexeï Navalny for violation of a judicial control, according to an AFP journalist present at the hearing.
Moscow court judge Dmitry Balashov, however, reduced the anti-corruption activist's sentence by one and a half months, who will eventually have to serve a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence.
Returned on January 17 in Russia from a convalescence after the poisoning of which he accuses the Kremlin, Alexeï Navalny was arrested upon his arrival at the airport.
He was sentenced on February 2 to two years and eight months in prison.
The court had converted a suspended prison sentence for fraud, dating from 2014, to a firm sentence for violating its judicial review.
It is this judgment which was studied on appeal this Saturday morning in a court in Moscow.
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Alexei Navalny returns to Moscow
Present at the hearing, the opponent rejected the charge of violation of judicial control by saying that he had never wanted to elude the Russian authorities by going to Germany and to have warned them of his return.
“I bought a ticket and told everyone I was coming home […] It's just absurd,” he told the judge, according to a journalist in court.
The prosecutor retaliated by asserting that the opponent had "openly and brazenly" defied the law and that he would like to be granted an "exclusive" authorization right.
Possible transfer to a labor camp
Ouliana Solopova, spokesperson for the Moscow courthouse, indicated that the prison services will be free to transfer the opponent to one of the many labor camps in Russia.
A legacy of the Soviet Union, most prison sentences in Russia are served in prison camps sometimes located far from everything.
The work of prisoners, usually in sewing or furniture workshops, is compulsory.
The conditions of detention are also regularly denounced by human rights defenders.
Moreover, this Saturday afternoon, Alexeï Navalny will appear before another judge in a second case.
This time it is about a trial for "defamation" of a veteran of the Second World War.
The prosecution requested a fine of 950,000 rubles in this case (around 10,600 euros) and also demanded that the opponent's suspension be converted into a prison.
Other cases are pending against the opponent.
Russian justice is seized in particular of a complaint for defamation lodged against Alexeï Navalny by the sulphurous businessman Evguéni Prigojine, considered close to President Vladimir Poutine.
He is also being investigated for fraud.
A case under investigation in which the maximum penalty incurred is 10 years in prison.
International reactions ignored
Alexeï Navalny, whose imprisonment in January had led to three days of demonstrations repressed by the police, denounces legal procedures set up from scratch.
According to him, the Kremlin wants to throw him in prison to silence him, after failing to kill him by poisoning him last summer.
Moscow rejects these accusations.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) this week asked for the release of the 44-year-old Russian anti-corruption activist, arguing a risk to the life of this opponent who survived his poisoning in extremis.
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The European Union and the United States have also increased the calls to release Alexeï Navalny, while the collaborators of the opponent urged the West to sanction senior Russian officials and close to Vladimir Putin.
Moscow sees it as an "interference" in its affairs and has threatened the Europeans with reprisals.
Alexei Navalny and his supporters plan to organize further protests against power in the spring and summer, ahead of legislative elections.