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6.35pm Moscow time Alyokhina's appeal rejected. She will serve her sentence in full.
6.30pm Moscow time Court has resumed.

One of the young women sentenced to two years of hard labour, Mariay Alyokhina, is back in court but this time on her own initiative. She is appealing to have her sentence (of which she has served a chunk already) suspended as she has a young son, Philip. to look after.

According to the BBC Russian Service [in Russian] the Procurator's office opposes this appeal on the grounds that Alyokhina has already had six reprimands from the authorities. The hearing had been scheduled to take place in Penal Colony No. 28 where Alyokhina is serving her sentence but her defence and human rights activists managed to change that to the court building in Bereznikov in the Perm region. (Yes, do have a look on the map.)

The hearing has been going on for some time with Alyokhina being questioned about her son and whether she had ever taken him to public meetings (according to her, not) and whether she had taken him to various educational undertakings, as well as about the various reprimands about such matters as appearing at the morning line-up late (according to her because it is hard to hear the order to get up) and, more to the point, answering back to the guards. Alyokhina's defence lawyer maintains that people have displayed a friendlier attitude to her because of the latter.

The Russian Legal Information Service (RAPSI) is running a live blog or text broadcast on the proceedings in a somewhat idiosyncratic English. At present the court has taken a break but will be back at 3pm GMT, that is 6pm Moscow time and 9pm local time.