russian opposition to alexina valley has suffered a double eagle the comment lost an appeal against his jail sentence for breaching his probation while recovering in jamming from a poisoning he was also fined for defaming a wild war 2 veteran or a challenge as mine. alexei novelli knows this drill well he's been in the defendant's cage of a russian courtroom so many times before he knows judges almost never overturn a conviction you know the chances of that are even smaller for the kremlin's most high profile critic. so novelli listen to the expected rejection of his appeal and gave a customarily sarcastic reply they reduced my sentence by 1.5 months great he said is the verdict clear ask the judge. yes yes thank you part of the bounty taking off time already spent under house arrest of ali sentences now 2 years and 8 months he gave a final statement captured only on audiotape criticizing the or thora tease. me. they say what's this we can fiddle with the system in any way we want so how can you stand against as i'm not the only one who sees it but the ordinary people who watch this can

well a valentine's day protest was called by one of alexina valley's closest allies leonid vulcan of russia service spoke with him about the protest movements likely next steps i strategy is to be flexible and to be smart and to be smarter isn't put in and. to improvise and to do that things that will help our supporters to organize themselves and they will not. yield to it to do putin strategy of fear and smear campaign that's so i don't want and i can't see anything specific about the format it will be always something new something different our strategy did not change for many years our strategy is to increase pressure on putin and to build up to to lead our support base for all to increase the number of our supporters troop ever seen what we're doing and so far we've been very successful i think will remain quite successful in the future and how i live it falcoff so let's take a look at the bigger picture of protests from russia and miramar to in here in hong kong the world seems to be taking to the streets chris anderson is a professor of european politics and policy at the lon

once again alexina valley is paying a high price for his criticism of the kremlin as a court sentenced him to $3.00 and a half years the judge found the valley guilty of breaking probation failing to report to russian police over an embezzlement charge the fact he was in hospital in berlin was not accepted the valley was there recovering from nerve agent poisoning he alleges was carried out by the russian state the kremlin critic drew a heart on the glass in court for his wife and asked his supporters to protest. the aim of this hearing is to scare a great number of people it works this way jail want to scare millions. i hope that this hearing will be interpreted by people as a signal that they have to be more scared it's not a demonstration of power the national guards of russia this cage they are a demonstration of weakness you can't jail hundreds of thousands and millions. of us outside the court a major show of force from police rounding up and detaining of only supporters who call not only for his release but for the release of russia from putin's rule no one you saw in this prett

protester logical strong just in petersburg russia has come out in support of jailed kremlin critic alexina valley thousands of detainees. that israel says it will transfer 5000 covert 19 vaccine doses to palestinian medical workers after drawing sharp criticism for its looting the occupied territories. welcome to the program near mars ruling party says leader. and other senior politicians have been detained by the military an overnight raids the move comes after weeks of escalating tension between the government and the army the national league for democracy was reelected by a landslide in other verb a vote which the military says was fraudulent the raids happened just hours before a new parliament was due to reconvene on monday morning telephone and internet services in the country have also been disrupted from slowly as our correspondent in kuala lumpur has reported extensively. be a bob joins me now all the fire the florence the ruben is have now become a reality it seems what are you hearing about this detention and the cuts in communications. i'm trying on trying to get in touch with a journ

gelatine a violent is a bitter blow against fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in russia alexina valley must be released immediately the u.k. calls for the immediate and unconditional release of alexina vali and all of the peaceful protesters and journalists arrested over the last 2 weeks when it comes to international support really this hearing it has been like no what no other one in russia has been unprecedented not because only because of its magnitude but also because the international community they got to witness the hearing itself right before it started we saw a motorcade of embassy cars taking foreign diplomats to the to to witness the hearing just imagine for instance a russian embassy going to witness a julian assange hearing in london so that would that would raise quite a number of eyebrows in the west but this it was not one embassy guy was a whole motorcade from all over europe. but. the person. i hear you. know the speaker and i read that. when it comes to the reaction from the russian foreign ministry well it was it was quite expected i should say the spokeswoman mari

coordinates its fall policy and defense policy making with the americans alexina valley is a tool that the americans are using against the russians and i believe the americans i hope to scotch no strings or the germans have kept so they counsel i will not allow that to happen so that is a good indication that the e.u. will try. draw each of the 5 you merican stones from italy the americans all the dominant force in the e.u. that's the problem you know george and he the argument coming out of washington that we are trump and now we're leading into the bite when was that run russia will have them ally in the dominate influence over europe's energy policy but i mean if you step back and say well no you won't be the europeans you want the europeans to buy your american liquefied natural gas so you will be reliant upon american but he's an american boy and policy i mean if you step back here it's pretty obvious that obviously a big mirror i mean gassed is a company that has shareholders that is invested billions of dollars into a pipeline that was in agreement with the german government ok

countries including germany accusing them of taking part in illegal protests outside alexina valley's court sentencing earlier this week german chancellor angela merkel speaking at a video conference with french president emmanuel macro condemned russia's move on the nation that was echoed by paris and other european capitals the w correspondent bed righetti in brussels is following this for us welcome parents let's start with the basics what was it that these diplomats did that so upset moscow. well russia is maintaining that these diplomats participated in the protests over the weekend. against the russian government caused by alex a nevada me the opposition leader 2 of them burns in petersburg one in moscow but the governments in europe say this is nonsense because they were only doing what they're supposed to do they're watching they were watching as society events in russia and this is covered by the vienna convention on diplomatic routes so there's also a. disagreement now of what was exactly happening but it is clear that this is a huge prove occasion by the russians this is wh

countries including germany accusing them of taking part in illegal protests outside alexina valley's court sentencing earlier this week german chancellor angela merkel speaking at a video conference with french president emmanuel macro condemned russia's move condemnation that was echoed by paris and other european capitals the w correspondent bed righetti in brussels is following advice for us welcome parents let's start with the basics what was it that these diplomats did that so upset moscow. well russia is maintaining that these diplomats participated in the protests over the weekend. against the russian government caused by alex a nevada me the opposition leader 2 of them burned st petersburg one in moscow but the governments in europe say this is nonsense because they were only doing what they're supposed to do they're watching they were watching the societal events in russia and this is covered by the vienna convention on diplomatic routes so there's also a. disagreement now of what was exactly happening but it is clear that this is a huge prove occasion by the russians this i

putting alexina valley on a pedestal and calling for his release we reiterate all call for the russian government to immediately and unconditionally release mr no vani as well as the hundreds of other russian citizens wrongfully detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights including the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly today's verdict against gelatine a violent is a bitter blow against fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in russia alexina valley must be released immediately the u.k. calls for the immediate and unconditional release of alexina vali and all of the peaceful protesters and journalists arrested over the last 2 weeks when it comes to international support really this hearing it has been like no what no other one in russia has been unprecedented not because only because of its magnitude but also because the international community they got to witness the hearing itself right before it started we saw a motorcade of embassy cars taking foreign diplomats to the to to witness the hearing just imagine for instance a russian embassy car going to

germany is demanding that russia immediately release jailed opposition leader alexina valley as well as the 1st time berlin is spoken out on the matter the government also called for the release of all protesters arrested during those demonstrations the valley was detained when he returned from germany have to receiving treatment for poisoning makers are urging berlin to cancel a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline from russia because of the valleys arrest. hong kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activist jimmy lai will remain in jail while judges consider his bail application the 73 year old is accused of conspiring with foreign forces under china's sweeping national security law at a hearing on monday government lawyers argued that those charged under the law should be held in custody but lies said he's agreed to strict house arrest measures the judges said they would deliver their ruling at a later date devitt apollo was outside the court in hong kong she has more of the background to the case. this case in particular to sell great interest to beijing it's a very sensitive case and

well that's it for today at least some western governments have condemned the court's ruling alexina valley are demanding his release moscow described the reaction as a chain of political staging. we reiterate our call for the russian government to immediately and unconditionally release mr no vani as well as the hundreds of other russian citizens wrongfully detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights including the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly today's verdict against seen a violent is a bitter blow against fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in russia alexina valley must be released immediately the u.k. calls for the immediate and unconditional release of alexina volley and all of the peaceful protesters and journalists arrested over the last 2 weeks or independent political analyst go over doctorow told me that the reaction of western nations he failed as a convenient way to draw attention away from their own problems at home. with various governments will come out to criticize the ground war and the russian treatment at war they are acting as we c

now to developments in russia the opposition politician alexina valley has been back in court on the charges he railed against the judge accusing her of helping prosecution witnesses and telling her to improve her knowledge of russian law the judge repeatedly reprimanded him avali was jailed last week for violating parole conditions when he was flown to germany for treatment after being poisoned with a nerve agent in this trial he's accused of defaming a world war 2 veteran who appeared in a video backing president putin. i am very disappointed and i want to point out your behavior once again every time that witnesses the prosecution failed to answer my questions you interrupt the process and let the witnesses leave the room and have a chance to get advice from the people on how to answer the question. meanwhile russia's foreign minister has threatened to break off ties with the european union tensions between the e.u. and russia have been building since alexina valley was poisoned and then arrested so galadriel has accused the e.u. and other western powers of lacking mutual respect

from this but are they likely to grow her despite there being this general sympathy for what alexina valley might have suffered doesn't seem as though it's going to. shake the foundations of the kremlin. the regime may see him stay well but we see those cracking and different places that discontent is growing among the people of flaw in middle incomes they have seen their standards of living native deteriorating over the last few years the business elite is also discontent they have seen the original the esses dismay to their access to international capital markets cut so all our discontent is growing so it and their next sort of big event is going to grow a man straight elections in september and we expect the party of power of the united russia will do a lot of the belly in this elections but the climate also knows how to play the game right well it's true that democratic forces right now are not strong enough to take the regime heads on our opponents have of their legislative power all alone force them and as we have seen in a case of not well a but also many other protesters they have u

out then everything will stay the same it was needed we need any sort of solidarity now because alexina valley is the most well known political prisoner now some people forget that there are also a lot of women in his team who are also being persecuted for their political opinions and for their work. against violence of any kind whether it's political violence or domestic violence that's why we're here for love. you see. some of the stories making headlines around the world today the west african nation of guinea has declared a new epidemic after an outbreak near the liberian border at least 3 people have died there the 1st cases detected in guinea since 26. the world health organization is helping to liver vaccines and contain it. for arjun time president carlos menem has died in buenos iris aged 90 he served 2 terms from 1989 to 999 pursuing a strong privatization policy to also take the peso to the u.s. dollar to control inflation argentina has declared 3 days of national mourning. the united arab emirates has published the 1st images of mars sent back by its probe currently circling the re

germany's parliament and speaks for the opposition greens on european affairs welcome to day w alexina valley had his day in a duly appointed russian court and lost so why is a faded anybody else's business reactions after quitting government a really terrible and judgement is the political one de facto the basis on which this judgment has been our hand it is one that the european court and human rights has called a political judgment so there is a gesture from the european court of human rights to wish russia it's just signing out we stand at the original judgment against the rally doesn't stand and all the standards of the rule of law so it is a political process we have known this from before and it's terrible to see how the government treats the demonstrators not right so what should germany do about this germany and now has to give up its support for a new pipeline to gas. pipeline nostri to it's an anti european project doesn't make sense for cairo but it doesn't make sense to make narrow agreements with the clique of oligarchs around entire cities are really. putting so many people in

well as we've just heard alexina valley is the focus of a growing diplomatic crisis between the e.u. and russia moscow says it's ready to come ties with brussels if the a year goes ahead with harsh economic sanctions one possible target is a nearly complete gas pipeline between russia and germany but skeptics say linking the project to human rights is a bad idea. the north stream too is ready at least the german end of the nearly 2500 kilometer long pipeline it starts here in the baltic sea town of lukeman the receiving terminal with its thick pipes and heavy safety valves has been ready to go since the summer. goodmans mayor oxus force is concerned that despite this the russian gas pipeline might never be operational. it would give us a very bad public image if we had an investment disaster of this magnitude and the political debate continued to be so heated i suspect that would also scare off investors we'd like to keep. this 150 kilometers of pipeline has become a hot topic. the section has yet to be completed on the bottom of the baltic sea. but calls for tougher sanctions agains

of that meeting some of those foreign ministers are also going to sit down with supporters of alexina valley in brussels and those supporters will be urging the foreign ministers to go after the russian president vladimir putin's alleged well stored in europe some european countries want to go even further they want to target the big prestige project between russia and europe which is the north stream to gas pipeline which is currently being constructed under the baltic sea and is just a few pipelines away from being completed and landing on germany's shore and that's meant to happen in april but at least one country lithuania is urging that the completion of that pipeline be delayed until september which is when russia holds its pollen entry elections however germany is a really strong supporter of nordstrom to chancellor angela merkel has said she doesn't want to see the 2 issues conflated novelli and. nord stream so we have a situation now where there are divisions between russia and europe and there are also divisions within europe itself on how to respond to the opposition leader is now

then everything will stay the same it's needed we had need any sort of solidarity now because alexina valley is the most well known political prisoner now some people forget that there are also a lot of women in this team who are also being persecuted for their political opinions and for their work. against violence of any kind whether it's political violence or domestic violence that's why we're here for love. you see. that report by w.'s moscow correspondent emily sure went and warner. pullen now some of the other stories making headlines around the world today the west african nation of guinea has declared a new epidemic after an outbreak near the liberian border at least 3 people have been died there the 1st cases detected in guinea since 2016 the world health organization is helping to liberate vaccines and trying to contain the outbreak. in the u.s. state of florida families and survivors held a memorial for the victims of the parklane school shooting massacre 17 students and staff were killed there 3 years ago president joe biden used the occasion to call for tougher gun laws includin

we just have to choose to use them so it's time to act russian opposition leader alexina valleys appeared in court again as his case dominated diplomatic discussions he was accused of song during a war veteran a charge he denies meanwhile the e.u.'s foreign policy chief called for his release at a joint news conference with the russian foreign minister in moscow instead the kremlin expelled diplomats from 3 e.u. nations dominic kane is in ballin. the view in berlin the view in paris as has been made very clear by angela merkel and emmanuel mark karr on friday afternoon is will they have reacted if not angrily but strongly to the expulsion of 3 diplomats e.u. diplomats one of them german from moscow on the basis of what the russian government has said was inappropriate behavior for diplomats of the german government angle merkel saying that she believed it was totally unjustified for the russian government to take the action it did and emmanuel mcconnell speaking in a digital conference with angle americal the 2 had been meeting in a digital format as part of a franco german security counc

protests in russia opposition leader alexina valley's jailed for more than 2 years when leaders demand his immediate release. in jordan this is out as iraq dive from doha also coming up. the 1st major protest in me in law against the military coup a civilian leader and san suu kyi is put under house of.

and watching the news as a reminder of the top story we're following for you kremlin critic alexina valley is back in court as tensions rise between russia and the european union develop. he is accused of defaming a war veteran rusher is threatening to break ties with brussels goes ahead with sanctions. that's the news that update this hour up next is business with stephen beardsley will have more headlines for you at the top of the hour i'm rebecca races in berlin and thanks for watching. we've got some tips for your bucket list. manticora. cuts hard for some. and some greek ultraman for years to boot. double trouble free go. to come to this. one giant problem and move it. reminded me of the change in mood in a fuel economy. how will climate change affect us and our children. dot com slash water. germany could begin finding companies for dirty and inhumane supply chains but critics abound on both sides of the measure with some complaining the new rules would be too weak and others arguing they're too onerous for big companies. also on the show south african president holds a promises to k

just saber rattling the german foreign minister heiko marse has condemned russia's treatment of alexina valley and opposition protesters but has also said that germany continues to be interested in cooperation with russia they don't want to drive russia or into the arms of china as he put it but of course these type of comments from the russian foreign minister don't make the dialogue and corporation any easier what about their german government approach to sanctions especially when it comes to their position on that controversial gas pipeline between the 2 countries. well burd lin has not ruled out more e.u. sanctions being imposed on russia and of course some other e.u. countries are quite keen on that idea but of course the german relationship on this point is overshadowed by the nord stream to gas pipeline project angela merkel and her coalition partners are sticking with that that plan that project is nearly complete despite the growing and increasingly all double opposition to its donald trump was against north stream 2 there are hopes that the biden administration might be a bit more ig

designated swedish intelligence agent following him in is russian opposition figure vladimir asuka of alexina valley's right hand man executive manager of the f b k foundation currently living in the u.k. surveillance of this meeting was conducted by russian counterintelligence keeping an eye and special agent forward. and. i. i. i. i. i i. i'm. hint hint nudge nudge fundus into power and will pay you back with billions since the man crusading against corruption the opposition even has a plan which is remarkably similar to what the accuse the government of doing from bombarding voters with propaganda to back to deals with elites and. i. would. britain after rule has much to gain here a short of doesn't beat around the bush despite a suit of since mr ford doesn't commit to any direct financial support instead he points a shortcut to a workaround work with transparency international which britain was already financing just imagine a british politician meeting with russian secret service agents to beg for funding and dirt on rivals it would cause a national uproar aside from the ethical complications it

then everything will stay the same it's needed we need any sort of solidarity you know because alexina valley is the most well known political prisoner now some people forget that there are also a lot of women in this team who are also being persecuted for their political opinions and for their work. against violence of any kind whether it's political violence or domestic that's why we're here for love. you see it. here are some of the other stories making news around the world today the west african nation of guinea has declared a new ebola epidemic after an outbreak in a town near the border with liberia at least 3 people have died and 4 others a known to be infected did the 1st cases detected in guinea since 2016 the world health organization is helping deliver vaccines and contain the outbreak. hundreds of oil and gas tank is have been just drop in a fire at afghanistan's border with iran the huge blaze which broke out on saturday afternoon caused millions of dollars in damage about 20 people were injured authorities of launch an investigation. potties in catalonia that favor breaking awa

russian opposition figurehead alexina valley is sentenced to 3 and a half years in jail for breaching his parole terms disconnected from reality t.v. that's how russia's foreign ministries branded calls from the west one of these immediate release. also one of the world's leading medical journals gives the seal of approval to russia's support to give you vaccine statements from more than 90 percent effective. europol issues a warning about the sale of fake tests as criminals seek to profit from travel restrictions. and a food fight breaks out in france as restaurants the governments by opening their doors to. cause a report next explores the high costs on.

scene of vile me is a bitter blow against fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in russia alexina valley must be released immediately the u.k. calls for the immediate and unconditional release of alexina volley and all of the peaceful protesters and journalists arrested over the last 2 weeks because no we're stuck on the same topic the west is trying to dodge the issue of finding the real truth of what happened when and where to alec's the novelli by focusing on protests in russia are numerous requests to provide us with the results of the tests remain unanswered by germany france sweden and even the pope at the o.p.c. w. they say you already know everything well this is impolite at the very least and such are against on behalf of enlightened europe is absolutely inappropriate and unacceptable or some countries including the u.s. have already suggested imposing sanctions on russia over the. term we asked political analysts for their views on the western pressure. it's just the hypocrisy of the west as we know it and this is it at its finest how can the west give lessons but to russia whe

and russia have been building since alexina valley was poisoned and then arrested so gay lover has accused the e.u. and other western powers of lacking mutual respect in their conversations with russia. but. all the problems between us and the european union started a very long time ago and they have been essentially wearing as have patience and goodwill. 2 prominent opponents of better russian president alexander lukashenko are facing new charges mario khosla nick over and maximization ak would jailed after mass protests in september they've now been accused of extremism and trying to seize power which could carry a 12 year prison sentence kozluk over was one of 3 women who opposed looking shanker in last year's disputed election the controversial result prompted 6 months of protests and a police crackdown now mario draghi has told italy's president he's gathered enough political support to become the country's new prime minister former president of the european central bank was asked to take over after the collapse of giuseppa conti's administration he will lead a government of national

against seen a violent is a bitter blow against fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in russia alexina valley must be released immediately the u.k. calls for the immediate and unconditional release of alexina volley and all of the peaceful protesters and journalists arrested over the last 2 weeks. if any have direct statements there let's get the thoughts of beijing on tell us only who is from germany's left party and a friend of the program let's perhaps get to the reaction just a minute what's your initial thoughts on the court's verdict regarding the case how far do you think it is. i think it's very i think the court's deliberations are very convincing and what i have to say is that he was not convinced by any political activity he was convicted in 2014 for common criminal acts he embezzled the money of a private enterprise and his sentence was suspended and he violated the conditions of his parole so the course reasoning is completely logical and he did not really put up an argument against it he had the chance but instead he just made a political theater out of this court case and acid

against seen a violent is a bitter blow against fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in russia alexina valley must be released immediately the u.k. calls for the immediate and unconditional release of alexina vali and all of the peaceful protesters and journalists arrested over the last 2 weeks. across live to independent political unless gilbert doctorow always good to see you just on the reaction we've been going through gilbert as they move on the verdict was announced there were there was really an eye crying no other way to describe it from countries such as the u.s. the u.k. all of them seemingly calling for his immediate release what's your what's your take on the reaction. there's an expression what they would say that wouldn't. many have said various governments will come out to criticize the washington or treatment of war. or acting as we could have predicted just as the crime of his articles of. patients in prison which is. possible to his or. the the west meaning particular the united states. u.k. and to a lesser degree germany are being leaders in a propaganda move to vilify russ

designated swedish intelligence agent following him in is russian opposition figure vladimir asuka of alexina valley's right hand man executive manager of the f b k foundation currently living in the u.k. surveillance of this meeting was conducted by russian counterintelligence keeping an eye and special agent food. rule despite that to be the 1st to do my duty to lose somebody who for. 20. 30. i did it. to get ready for. duty. thank you lou my t. the hint hint nudge nudge fundus into power and we'll pay you back with billions since the man crusade against corruption the opposition even has a plan which is remarkably similar to what they accuse the government of doing from bombarding voters with propaganda to back to deals with elites t. 40. 785 i mean i have. to read. every 35. 100. 90 i sure of cementing rumors that the opposition is being helped by foreign intelligence appears to ask the british for help information from government and intelligence agencies to use against the russian government i do not have the right. to direct. access to the one who would be terrible. right oh looky. looky loos.

germany's parliament and speaks for the opposition green zone european affairs welcome to day dubner alexina valley had his day in a duly appointed russian court and lost in reactions after quitting government a really terrible engine judgment is a political one de facto the basis on which this judgment has been our hand it is one that the european court and human rights has called a political judgement so there is an judgment from the european court of human rights to wish russia it's just signing up we stand at the original judgment against overly doesn't stand and all the standards of the who have lost their lives of political process we have now won despite before and it's terrible to see how the government treats the demonstrators not right so what should germany do about this germany and now has to give up its support for a new plane to gas. pipeline nostri to it's an anti european project doesn't make sense for cairo but it doesn't make sense to make narrow agreements with the clique of oligarchs around entirely and these are really . putting so many people in jail and it's a moment when ger