A Moscow court has rejected Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s appeal against his prison sentence.

Earlier this month, a lower court sentenced Navalny to two years and eight months in prison for violating terms of his probation while recuperating in Germany from a nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin.

Russian authorities have rejected the accusation.

A judge at Moscow City Court ruled Saturday that a month-and-half that Navalny spent under house arrest in early 2015 will be deducted from his prison sentence.

That slightly reduces his sentence to about 2 1/2 years in prison.

The ruling came even as the country faced a top European rights court’s order to immediately free him.