 In his first public appearance since ending a week long hunger strike, jailed criminal critic Alexei Navalny looked visibly thinner in a court hearing, which he attended via video link. Narthas's hearing was linked to Navalny's appeal against the defamation conviction handed to him in February for allegedly insulting a World War II veteran. He was ordered to pay a fine rather of $11,500 over the case. Gaunt and Frail, criminal critic Alexei Navalny again denounced Russia's justice system when he appeared in court on Thursday via video link. His team says he also faces new criminal charges and that the group has decided to disband a network of regional campaign officers. It was Navalny's first appearance since declaring an end to his three-week hunger strike last week and remains defiant. The 44-year-old rejected accusations in the separate case of defaming a World War II veteran. This whole case is a forgery. Even signatures were forged. You, your honour, know it very well and therefore didn't grant the petition to verify the signatures because they were forged. It's probably a new standard of Russian justice. One of his lawyers said he weighs a mere 72 kilograms or just 158 pounds, down from 94 kilograms when he flew back to Russia in January. Navalny's team also said on Thursday it was officially disbanding its network of regional campaign officers across Russia. The announcement posted on YouTube by Leonid Volkov comes ahead of another court hearing which will consider a request from prosecutors to declare the main pillars of Navalny's political organisation as extremist. To put it short, Navalny's regional campaign officers do not exist anymore and for me, more than many, it is not just a notion. It is a painful blow to my very heart. A Russian court has scheduled the main hearing for that case on May 17. Navalny is serving a two-and-a-half year jail sentence for parole violations on an earlier conviction that he says was politically...