SHORT PROFILE of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny as he loses an appeal against a nine-year prison sentence that he and his allies condemned as politically motivated. Moscow City Court ruled to "leave the sentence without changes" and for it to enter into force immediately, meaning that Navalny will be transferred to a strict regime prison colony to serve out his term, after he was found guilty in March of embezzlement and contempt of court. Navalny is President Vladimir Putin's most vocal domestic critic. SHORT PROFILE of Alexei Navalny, jailed Russian opposition figure