The Atlas Newsletter - Volume 45

Monday, January 1st, 2024

Good morning everyone,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! From the Atlas family to yours, we hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, and we look forward to an exciting 2024 together. Thank you for being with Atlas and trusting us to bring you the news in an unbiased and unfiltered way. Here’s to a good year!

Now, to the news:

In Europe, suspects in a terror plot in Germany are arrested, Poland searches for a Russian missile which crossed into their territory, and Russia launches its largest ever air attack on Ukraine.

Over in the Middle East, Netanyahu’s Judicial Reform law is struck down, Iranian soldiers are allegedly killed in Israeli airstrikes, and 10 Houthi militants are killed during an attack on a commercial vessel.

Meanwhile, in Africa, Felix Tshisekedi wins the DRC elections, Rwanda and Burundi suffer diplomatic issues after an attack in Burundi, and South Africa files a case against Israel with the ICJ for genocide.

In the Americas, American prisoners were released from Venezuelan prisons, three Catholic priests are arrested in Nicaragua for opposing the government there, and a former Colombian soldier pleads guilty to the assassination of Haitian President, Jovenel Moise.

In Asia and Oceania, a Hong Kong protestor flees police to Canada, China and Myanmar deepen ties, and a tsunami hits Japan.

As usual, it’s just another day at the office. Let's dive in:

- Joshua Paulo, Sebastien Gray, Trent Barr, & the Atlas team

Russian Opposition Leader Sent to Siberia

December 31st, 2023: (2 Minute Read) Russian opposition leader Alaxey Navalny has been located after being hidden from his lawyers for 17 days. On December 7th, 2023, his lawyer was denied access to the penal colony he was sentenced to in Melekhobo, Vladimir Oblast. For three days, his lawyer complained as they were denied access to the facility. Navalny’s website, “Russia Without Putin”, was also stricken from the internet within Russia on December 7th. On December 10th, his lawyers learned he was no longer registered at Penal Colony Number 6 in Vladimir Oblast.

By December 11th, Presidential Spokesperson Peskov told the press that the President's Office had no means to learn his location. The Vladimir Oblast Courts also told his lawyers the same day that an appeal date scheduled for December 15th could not be conducted as Navalny’s presence “was not possible to ensure”.

On December 15th, 2023, the Vladimir Oblast court told his lawyers that Navalny had been transferred out of the region but did not say where. His appeal hearing was postponed until January 11th, then January 16th, due to “technical problems with the video link.” His lawyers were still not told where he was. However, this morning, Navalny’s lawyer was able to visit him at IK-3 Super-Maximum Prison Colony, alternatively known as “Polar Wolf”, which is near Penal Colony 18, known as “Polar Owl.”

It is located on the bank of the Sob River near the Polar Urals in the Kharp urban-type settlement. It is one of the seven supermax corrective labor colonies operated by the Federal Penitentiary Service for convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in Russia. Kharp was founded in 1961 during the construction of the Salekhard-Igarka Railway. The core of the new settlement was a camp for prisoners who worked on laying the railway. Subsequently, the camp was transformed into a prison for particularly dangerous convicts. The prison received the status of a colony for life convicts in 2004.

The Polar Owl colony is autonomous and is comprised of a boiler house, bakery, diesel power station, canteen, and production departments for prisoners to make cinder blocks and crushed stone. It also has marble, sewing, tailoring, machine, and carpentry shops. Convicts can receive one package a year, and they can go for a walk in a small cage once a day for 90 minutes. They have a bed, a table, a bedside stand, a closed shelf where they can store food, a shelf for toiletries, a water tank, clothes hanger, and a toilet. Prisoners are not allowed to lie down on the bed during the day and cannot talk to other prisoners. All movements are carried out in handcuffs and in a bent-over at the waist position.

Europe

January 1st, 2024 - Five suspects in a suspected terror plot were detained on Sunday following the discovery of the plot, which sought to target Germany’s Cologne Cathedral, located in western Germany on the Rhein. The accused had allegedly planned to utilize a car filled with explosives in order to attack the cathedral, local media reported. Police searched a car park below the cathedral for explosives but found no traces of suspicious activity. The accused were discovered to have ties with a 30-year-old Tajik man with alleged ties to the Islamic State militant movement, who was arrested last week. The police stated that they believe the detainees belong to a “network of individuals” active in states across Germany. A fifth suspect was detained on Monday in the city of Bochum, which is located to the north-east of Cologne. The suspect has been identified as a 41-year-old German-Turkish man; however, further information remains unknown.

December 30th, 2023 - The Polish military concluded a search for a suspected Russian cruise missile that it claimed had violated the country's airspace on Friday morning. The alleged missile had entered Polish airspace from its border with Ukraine following the largest Russian air attack on Ukraine since the start of the war. Poland’s foreign ministry summoned the Russian charge d'affaires and demanded an explanation for the violation of airspace while nearly 500 Polish soldiers began searching for the alleged missile. This is one of many violations of Polish airspace by Russia and her allies, with a previous violation occurring last year when two Belarusians crossed into Polish airspace after undergoing supposed military training in the region.

December 28th, 2023 - January 1st, 2024 - Russia launched its largest ever air attack upon Ukraine, firing 158 drones and missiles into Ukraine, killing at least 39 people and injuring 159. In Kyiv alone, 16 people were killed, which is the city’s largest single-day civilian death toll since the beginning of the war. In response to the strikes in Kyiv, Ukraine launched significant strikes against the Russian city of Belgorod, which resulted in the deaths of 25 and wounded more than 100. Putin referred to the Belgorod attack as a “terrorist attack”, and has vowed to intensify strikes on Ukraine in response. In turn, at least five people were killed on New Year's Day in Odessa during Russian strikes on the Ukrainian port city.

Middle East

January 1st, 2023 - Israel’s High Court of Justice has ruled in favor of PM Netanyahu’s Judicial Reform Law, which sought to remove the “reasonableness clause” powers of the court. The “Reasonableness Clause” grants the Israeli Supreme Court the ability to review laws passed by the Knesset (Israeli parliament) and potentially strike them down if they deem the law to be “unreasonable”. The bill, which had initially passed in July, was the flagship of Netanyahu’s judicial reform plans, which had led to several months of some of Israel’s largest ever protests, which accused Netanyahu of growing more authoritarian and seeking to grow government power.

December 31st, 2023 - Yemen’s Houthi rebels released a statement confirming the fatalities of 10 of their fighters after they engaged with American military helicopters while attacking a Maersk commercial shipping vessel. The American helicopters were deployed from the USS Eisenhower Aircraft Carrier. The attack is yet another in an ever-growing series of attacks by the Houthi’s on commercial shipping that they accuse of being connected to Israel. US CENTCOM stated that no American personnel or equipment were injured or damaged in the incident.

December 28th - 29th, 2023 - Iran has denied that any troops were killed in Israeli airstrikes that targeted Damascus International Airport as well as a Syrian military air defense site. The strikes allegedly killed 11 IRGC officers, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, whereas Al-Arabiya confirmed the strikes targeted Iranian military officers. IRGC Spokesperson Sharif denied the claims, stating that any claims of fatalities were “baseless”.
 

Africa

December 29th, 2023 - Rwanda has denied Burundian accusations of supporting the RED-Tabara rebel group after the group carried out an attack on December 23rd, which resulted in the deaths of 20 people, including 12 children. This is not the first time Burundi has accused Rwanda of supporting the group, which Rwanda has routinely denied. Following the attack, the Burundian government has vowed to bring all the perpetrators to justice. After carrying out the attack, the rebels allegedly fled into the Eastern DRC, where they have been based and operating for several years now. RED-Tabara claimed responsibility for the attack; however, it claimed the attack only killed 10 Burundian military and security personnel, denying any civilian casualties.

December 31st, 2023 - Felix Tshisekedi, the incumbent President of the DRC, has been declared the winner of the nation's elections, which were held on December 20th. Tshisekedi garnered more than 70% of the vote, followed by Moise Katumbi, who received 18% of the vote. The election has been disputed by opposition figures, who have called the election fraudulent and called for their supporters to protest the results. The election had several irregularities, many of which arose from logistical issues. While the election took place on December 20th, voting was extended until December 21st due to a significant portion of polling stations lacking the needed resources to open in a timely manner on the 20th. Some parts of the country recorded ballots being cast five days after the initial election date. The official final results will be released on January 10th.

December 29th, 2023 - South Africa has filed a case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that accuses Israel of crimes of genocide in Gaza as the Israeli offensive into Gaza continues, paired with extensive bombing campaigns. South Africa stated that Israel’s actions were “genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group”. Israel has rejected the case, stating that it is “baseless” and “lacks both a factual and a legal basis, and constitutes despicable and contemptuous exploitation of the Court”.

The Americas

December 20th, 2023 - 10 American citizens who were previously imprisoned in Venezuela returned to their home country on Wednesday following a deal between the White House and the Venezuelan government. The Americans, six of whom were believed to be falsely imprisoned, were welcomed home at the San Antonio military base. In exchange for the release of the Americans, President Joe Biden released Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman and close ally to Maduro, on Wednesday, who was being held in a Miami jail awaiting trial on a charge of money laundering. Saab was accused of embezzling $350 million from Venezuela through the US in a scheme that involved bribing Venezuelan government officials. Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s President, has further vowed to release 20 Venezuelan prisoners, including political detainees, with six confirmed to have been released earlier this week, according to their lawyers and family members. Venezuela has also extradited a fugitive Malaysian businessman, Leonard Glenn Francis, who had evaded capture in the US after being found guilty of bribing top Navy officials. Francis fled the US in 2022 on the night before his scheduled sentencing. Leonard pleaded guilty to bribing officials with prostitution services, luxury travel and hotels, lavish meals, and over $500,000 in bribes in order to secure lucrative US naval contracts for his Singapore-based ship servicing company.

December 29th, 2023 - Three Catholic priests were arrested in Nicaragua on Friday, bringing the total number of detained Nicaraguan priests to nine, continuing President Daniel Ortega’s war against the Catholic Church. The priests were allegedly arrested after publicly praying for incarcerated Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez and “for refusing to stop mentioning Bishop Alvarez in their sermons," sources close to the parishes told Reuters. This is yet another move against the Catholic Church by Ortega’s government following the banning of Lenten Processions in 2023, which followed the arrest of Bishop Alvarez, who police claim to have been arrested for questioning the closure of Catholic radio stations and the government’s lethal reaction to protests in 2018. Actions against the Catholic Church have increased recently following Pope Francis’ criticisms of Ortega’s government, wherein the Pontiff called Ortega’s government a "gross dictatorship."

December 22nd, 2023 - A former Colombian soldier pleaded guilty on charges related to the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise last Friday. Prosecutors stated that the accused, by the name of Mario Palacios, broke into President Moise’s home alongside a team of fellow ex-soldiers after the contractors were hired by a Florida-based security company to provide security to an individual who was in line to become President of Haiti. Palacios stated that he began training to kidnap a target from a fortified building in preparation for the operation. Before the operation began, however, Palacios was told that Moise would die. Palacios is the fifth to plead guilty to the assassination, with three others having been previously sentenced. Those sentenced include a Florida pastor, a former Haitian senator, an ex-informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and businessmen accused of supplying the funds and weapons for the attack. Palacios will be sentenced on March 1st.

Asia and Oceania

December 29th, 2023 - Police in Hong Kong vowed on Friday to bring pro-Democracy activist Agnes Chow Ting to justice after she announced she will not be returning to Hong Kong to face trial for charges related to the 2019 pro-democracy protests in the former British colony following it’s steady reintroduction into Chinese control. In accordance with a preset arrangement with law enforcement, Chow was initially slated to return to Hong Kong on Thursday, where she would face trial after she made bail. However, she declared instead that she would stay in Canada due to concerns Chinese authorities would pass on a harsh sentence for what many Chinese officials have referred to as treason and rebellion.

December 27th, 2023 - The Chinese state-owned enterprise CITIC and the Myanmar Junta have officially signed an agreement to expedite the completion of the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone and a deep-sea port in Rakhine State. The project, which has been floundering in the Myanmar Foreign Ministry for at least a year was finally approved, much to the delight of the Chinese Foreign Ministry which has now gained access to an Indian Ocean deep water port. The completion was being held up by a number of environmental studies and bureaucratic red tape, exacerbated by the escalating civil war and loss of junta control, especially in the Northern states, but also in the Rakhine state where the agreement is.

January 1st, 2024 - Tsunami waves have impacted Western Japan following a 7.4 magnitude earthquake which sent warnings across the region. The earthquake struck at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) on the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa prefecture, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The Japan Meteorological Agency immediately issued a tsunami warning along coastal regions of western Japan with the first waves reported along the coast just over 10 minutes later. No immediate damage was reported but local hospitals report a few injuries with many being blocked from accessing evacuation routes or hospitals due to debris. The tsunami warnings have since been lifted.

• Burundi attack leaves 20 dead - Sebastien Gray

• Maduro declares victory after British naval withdrawal - Tessaron

• Maine removes Trump from 2024 Presidential ballot - Tessaron

• ISIS attacks down globally in 2023 - Atlas

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