A Moscow court has fined Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a defamation case involving a World War II veteran

MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court has ordered Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to pay a fine in a defamation case, a ruling that came hours after another judge rejected the top Kremlin critic’s appeal of his prison sentence. The court convicted Navalny on charges of slandering a World War II veteran and ordered him to pay a fine of about $11,500. Last year, Navalny called the 94-year-old veteran and other people featured in a pro-Kremlin video as “corrupt stooges,” “people without conscience” and “traitors.” He rejected the slander charges and described them as part of official efforts to disparage him.